Famed former pinup model Bettie Page is hospitalised in intensive care after suffering a heart attack in Los Angeles.
Page's agent and attorney Mark Roesler says Friday that the 85-year-old is "critically ill." He says she suffered a heart attack Tuesday and remains hospitalised.
He would not comment further on her condition.
A family friend, Todd Mueller, said Page was in a coma. When asked to confirm, Roesler said, "I would not deny that," but he also would not comment further on her condition.
Page is credited with helping set the stage for the sexual revolution of the rebellious 1960s. She attracted national attention with magazine photographs of her sensuous figure in bikinis and lingerie that were tacked up on walls in military barracks, garages and elsewhere.
Her photos included a centerfold in the January 1955 issue of then-fledgling Playboy magazine, as well as controversial sadomasochistic poses.
Page later spent decades away from the public eye, and during that time battled mental illness and became a born-again Christian.
After resurfacing in the 1990s, she occasionally granted interviews but refused to allow her picture to be taken.
Mueller credits his business dealings with Page for bringing her out of seclusion. He said he first met her in 1989 when he offered her "a bunch of money" to show up at autograph signings.
"I probably sold 3,000 of her autographs, usually for $200 to $300," he said.
"Eleanor Roosevelt, we got $40-$50. ... Bettie Page outsells them all."
