Betty Page, the star of pinups and glossy fantasy photographs, has died at a hospital in Los Angeles. It has been estimated that she posed for 20,000 pictures between 1949 and 1957, in a variety of settings wearing bondage gear, lingerie, or nothing at all. See many pictures of Page in this gallery (NSFW). A 2005 film biography about her was called The Notorious Betty Page.

"Bettie Page captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality," said Roesler, chairman of the Indianapolis-based CMG Worldwide, who was at Page's side when she died. "She was a dear friend and a special client and one of the most beautiful and influential women of the 20th century."

A religious woman in her later life, Page was mystified by her influence on modern popular culture. "I have no idea why I'm the only model who has had so much fame so long after quitting work," she said in an interview with The Times in 2006.

She had one request for that interview: that her face not be photographed.

"I want to be remembered," she said, "as I was when I was young and in my golden times. . . . I want to be remembered as the woman who changed people's perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form."

Betty Page died Thursday night of complications from a heart attack she suffered on December 2nd. She was 85.