Bettie Page Suffers Heart Attack

There's really no one quite like Bettie Page. Less than a decade of work made her an indelible icon. But unlike Marilyn Monroe or James Dean, who lived in the public spotlight, Page became a mainstream icon through exotic fetish photography. Her decade of posing spawned a movement that thrives to this day in film, merchandise, and wide-spread spirit. Now Variety reports that the 85-year-old Page is critically ill.

Page was hospitalized three weeks ago for pneumonia, and just as she regained her health and was about to be released, she suffered a heart attack that has her in a coma in intensive care (the coma hasn't been officially confirmed, but it was not denied).

I hope she can pull through this. It's a rare person who can not only overcome terrible hardships, but also find a way to reconcile their current and past selves. Not every born-again Christian would autograph sexy pictures of themselves and say: "After all, when God created Adam and Eve, they were stark naked. And in the Garden of Eden, God was probably naked as a jaybird too!" Our thoughts are with you, Betty.