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Bettie Page photographer Sam Menning was responsible for many
photographs used by Lenny Burtman (Burmel/Selbee), John Willie and many
others. Sam's education ceased at the seventh grade. Like many other
young men during the 1940s, he had dreams of defending his country. At
the age of sixteen, Sam Menning got into the Navy by lying about his
age. Probably not even in his twenties, Sam Menning spent one hellish
Christmas floating around in a lifeboat somewhere in the Pacific Ocean!
Sam would focus on the making his photographs interesting even with a
model like Bettie Page standing before him. That is the reason his
photographs turned out so well and why they are memorable. Sam Menning
had a lingerie store in New York City and supplied the Klaws some with
outfits that Bettie Page wore and even helped them set up a few times.
Sam Menning remembers shooting Bettie Page in 6" heels and a leather
outfit. When you really think about it, Bettie Page with that face of
hers, her feet stuffed in 6" heels, a leather outfit and carrying a whip
is something very powerful.
Sam really liked keeping himself amused by trying new things while
photographing his models. At one point during Sam Menning's career, he
was so prolific that he was responsible for producing photographs for
over 90% of Gargoyle Publications. Sam Menning also did work for
Satellite Publications. Sam was very active in his later years and
utilized his talent in movies, TV shows and commercials as an actor
mainly playing old curmudgeons. See Sam Menning's filmography at imdb it's
really interesting!
Not sure if 110-116 is Menning's work.
Many thanks to Henry Feldstein for contributions on this page!
Anyone interested in a vintage photo of Bettie Page by Sam Menning can contact me for details.
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