PIN-UP ICON PAGE DIES

Legendary pin-up BETTIE PAGE died on Thursday (12/11/08). She was 85.

Page suffered a heart attack last week (12/02/08) in Los Angeles and never
regained consciousness She had been hospitalized for three weeks with
pneumonia before the heart attack, according to her agent Mark Roesler
Roesler said in a statement: “With deep personal sadness I must announce that
my dear friend and client Bettie Page passed away at 6:41pm PST this evening in
a Los Angeles hospital.

“She died peacefully but had never regained consciousness after suffering a
heart attack nine days ago.”

Page’s trademark curvy figure and raven hair made her a fixture in men’s
magazines in the 1950s, and the icon found a cult following that lasted long
after her modeling days.

The star also landed parts in dozens of silent fetish films in which she
often played a dominatrix, but the aspiring actress only had one small speaking
role in the 1953 movie Striporama.

American actress Gretchen Mol played Page in the 2005 biopic of her eventful
life, The Notorious Bettie Page.

Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, who hand-picked Page to be the Playmate of the
Month in January 1955, has paid tribute to the star, saying: “I think that she
was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced
sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our
society She was a very dear person.”