Legendary pinup queen Bettie Page died of pneumonia at the age of 85 in a Los Angeles , California , hospital Thursday , a week after suffering a heart attack , according to her agent .
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legendary pinup queen bettie page die pneumonia age 85 los angeles california hospital thursday week suffer heart attack accord her agent
Legendary pinup queen Bettie Page <m> died </m> of pneumonia at the age of 85 in a Los Angeles , California , hospital Thursday , a week after suffering a heart attack , according to her agent .
Legendary pinup queen Bettie Page <m> died </m> of pneumonia at the age of 85 in a Los Angeles , California , hospital Thursday , a week after suffering a heart attack , according to her agent .
Pinup queen Bettie Page was credited with helping to usher in the sexual revolution .
`` She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality , '' said agent Mark Roesler in a written statement .
`` She is the embodiment of beauty . ''
Page , said to be one of the most photographed people of the past century , became a recluse in recent decades .
Yet , her images continued to be used around the world to market Bettie Page action figures , clothing lines and other merchandise .
`` Her popularity as an underground , guilty pleasures phenomenon has continued to soar despite the fact that the reclusive Page disappeared almost a half century ago , leading many to believe that one of the most photographed individuals of the 20th century was already dead . ''
Roesler said .
The Web site , BettiePage.com , logs about 20 million hits a month , Roesler said .
A TVGuide.com poll recently placed Bettie Page as the `` ultimate sex goddess , '' outscoring others such as Marilyn Monroe .
Page was born to a poor family in Tennessee on April 22 , 1923 .
While her birth certificate spelled her name `` Betty , '' she changed the spelling later in life to `` Bettie . ''
At a time when few women pursued a college education , Page earned a bachelor of arts degree in education from Peabody College in Tennessee in 1944 , according to her official biography .
Her teaching career , however , was hampered by her looks , she said .
`` I could n't control my students , especially the boys , '' she is quoted as saying .
After her modeling career ended , Page returned to Peabody College to work on a master 's degree , the bio said .
Her Southern drawl and a refusal to sleep with a Hollywood producer hampered her acting career , according to her bio .
`` I did n't like his looks , '' Page said .
`` I would n't have gone to bed with him anyway .
He was a creep .
He drove off in his big car and scolded me,
'You 'll be sorry . '
I was n't . ''
Page said she regretted not accepting studio boss Jack Warner 's offer of another screen-test , but it came while she was trying to save her marriage to her first husband , Billy Neal .
Her modeling breakthrough began after she divorced Neal in 1947 when she met a police officer whose hobby was photography .
He suggested the black bangs , which became her trademark , her bio said .
Not long after , her images were everywhere , gracing magazine covers and locker pin-ups .
Page wore nothing but a Santa hat in Playboy 's January 1955 centerfold .
Playboy founder Hugh Hefner said her appearance in his magazine 's first year was a milestone .
`` She became , in time , an American icon , her winning smile and effervescent personality apparent in every pose , '' Hefner said .
`` A kinky connection was added by Irving Klaw 's spanking , fetish and bondage photos , which became part of the Bettie Page mystique , '' Hefner said .
`` They were playful parodies that are now perceived as the early inspiration for Madonna 's excursions into the realm of sexual perversion . ''
Perhaps the most memorable photos of Page were her bondage poses , which she said were all pretend .
`` I never understood how anyone believed those poses were sexy , '' she later said .
`` To be tied up ?
I do n't get it . ''
`` She was a remarkable woman , truly someone that changed the social norms , not only here in this country , but also around the world , '' Roesler said .
`` While Jackie Robinson was changing the racial attitudes , Bettie Page was changing our attitudes on sex .
She became a James Dean type of 'rebel ' figure as she allowed people to be less inhibited and look at sex in a different way . ''
Saucy photos of Paige in skimpy clothing or none at all helped to lead the way for the sexual revolution of the nineteen sixties .
Page suddenly disappeared from the scene in 1958 .
It was only decades later revealed that she re-emerged to explain that she underwent a religious conversion and moved to Florida .
Her life took a dark turn starting in 1978 after her third marriage failed , Roesler said .
Page went through `` some mental instability , violent mood swings , and serious trouble with the law '' and was eventually diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic , according to her bio .
Page reappeared in public in December 2003 for Playboy 's 50th anniversary party , where she made a grand entrance with Anna Nicole Smith .
It was the only time in the past 50 years that Page allowed her photograph to be taken , Roesler said .
A private funeral service is planned for Tuesday .
Page will buried at Westwood Cemetery in Los Angeles , just a few feet away from Monroe .