RIP Bettie Page (1923-2008) – I might have got the last interview and the last Kiss

She defined pop culture more than anyone living or dead.  I interviewed the affable, radiant and outspoken pinup icon two years ago at the legendary Sportsman’s Lodge on Ventura Blvd.  I believe it was her last full length interview.  Mainly, we talked about how voluptuous might be making a comeback in fashion.  We also talked at length about silent films and how they should be revived.  Bettie was a huge fan of this lost art.  “It’s easy to repeat lines today and come off as a credible actor,” she told me, explaining why she left the public eye years ago.  “None of these kids today would have made it in the silent era.  You really had to be able to act then if you wanted to hold people’s attention.  The only person I see out there today who could have made it back then was Robert Downey Jr., he’s a true actor.  Guys like Clooney and Ben Affleck wouldn’t have had a chance, whereas Charlie Chaplin would be bigger than all of them put together today.”

She also sounded off on how she’s been ripped off on BP merchandise.  “If I’d have the energy I’d track down all them fraudsters who have been making millions of my image without paying me a penny,” she said.  “I’d like to shoot them all.”

At the end of the interview she planted a huge kiss on my lips.  I almost had to pinch myself.  Imagine being kissed by one of the two sexiest women ever in showbiz – the other being her blonde counterpart, Marilyn Monroe.

Her website BettiePage.com has received almost 700 million hits the past five years.  I’ll post some of the interview in days to come.