Bettie Page
Bettie May Page was the ‘Queen of the Pinups’; famed for her dark hair, bright blue eyes and provocative poses. She found fame as a model, including through work for early editions of Playboy magazine, plus she was also a muse and fashion icon. Page was also an FBI informant, as a file released by the Agency following a Freedom of Information request revealed. While she may have been the victim of speculation and innuendo herself, she obviously was willing to work with the G-Men to give them a unique insight into the underground pornographic scene of 1950s America.
Page’s involvement with the FBI came about following a police raid in Harlem in 1957. The New York City cops discovered a cache of ‘obscene material, in the raided apartment, including pornographic magazines and photos as well as lengths of rope and other bondage tools. The police asked the FBI for their help in finding out whether or not this was being used as a porn studio and, if so, who was making the material and, just as important, who was buying it. Happy to help, the FBI needed expert assistance, and so Director J. Edgar Hoover leaned on Page for her insider knowledge.
The file revealed the extent to which Page cooperated with the FBI. She informed them that “she had never heard of that type of photography being made in Harlem”. Moreover, she revealed that the pictures of her in ‘obscene’ poses had been produced in private photography studios. That, however, was as far as the unusual working relationship between Hoover and Page got. By 1958, page had started drifting away from the pinup world. By the end of the decade, she had renounced the lifestyle completely, due in no small part to her conversion to Christianity.
Bettie Page died in 2008, having lived long enough to see her revival in popular culture. She has been widely cited as an influence by numerous rock, pop and movie stars, while the FBI file, discovered and released in the spring of 2010, added a new layer to her already-fascinating – though often troubled – life.