Have you ever heard of a 1950s pin-up model who had an impossible waist? Well, we are here to introduce her to you!
You will be surprised to know that Betty Brosmer, one of the most celebrated 1950s pin-up models had a waist of just 18 inches. Well, you don’t have to read it again as what you read is right!
Betty Brosmer has been featured in many magazine covers for her stunning blonde looks. And what is more surprising is that the young model graced almost all the men’s magazine covers.
Betty Brosmer Featured on Almost Every Magazine’s Cover Page
Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine is the only one in which she didn’t feature in spite of being approached by the publication house. And this was because Brosmer was expected to give a nude pose which she refused to. This however impacted her career the least as Betty Brosmer left no stone unturned in becoming one of the most successful models of the 1950s.
One important thing to be noted is that Betty Brosmer is a model who has never gone with any nude or seminude photo shoot for any magazine throughout her career. Brosmer was seen on the cover of many novels. Not just this, her success has no bounds as the model has won a number of beauty pageants too. Brosmer did modeling for Christian Dior too.
Betty Brosmer – Early Childhood
Betty Chloe Brosmer was born on 2nd August 1935 in Pasadena, California. Andrew Brosemer and Vendla Alvaria Pippenger are her parents. Her father brought up Brosmer as a sports fan which helped her in excelling in youth athletics. Brosmer was in Carmel in her early days as a child. However, after she turned ten, she lived in Los Angeles.
As a child, she was very enthusiastic about fitness. She even used to do weight lifting as well as go with muscle-building which became the reason for Brosmer being known as a “tomboy” in school. However, she chose a different career for herself by becoming a pip-up model. That was kind of a surprise for those who knew her as a child.
Betty Brosmer – First Pose for a Photo Shoot
At the age of 13, Brosmer’s photo was featured in the Sears & Roebuck catalog. And very next year, she traveled to New York City accompanied by her aunt where she got some pictures clicked by a professional photographer. One of these photos was bought by Emerson Televisions for commercial advertising purposes. However, that photo became quite popular and was used for a long time in national magazines too.
Thereafter, Brosmer started doing up and down between Los Angeles and New York City. By 1950, Brosmer and her aunt took up residency in New York City and Brosmer continued her education in George Washington High School in Manhattan. Simultaneously, she was also working in building her photographic portfolio and Brosmer was seen on the cover page of many popular magazines of the time over the next four years.
Betty Brosmer’s Journey to Become a Successful Pin-Up Model
She was also featured in romance novels, crime magazines, and books. Bette Brosmer has even won over 50 beauty pageants too. All this happened when she was in her teenage only. Brosmer said, “When I was 15, I was made up to look like I was about 25”.
Brosmer was said to have the perfect figure as a model. She got to be known as one of the most celebrated pin-up models having an ‘impossible waist’, thanks to her body measurements of 38”-18”-36”.
Better Brosmer has not only been a stunning and successful commercial model but she was equally smart. She was the first model who demanded rights for her pictures which helped in becoming the most paid American pin-up model of the 1950s. Brosmer also made her way to feature in magazines like Time and Esquire.
Joe Weider’s Entry in Betty Brosmer’s Life
Betty Brosmer became an international face after teaming up with pin-up photographer Keith Barnard. Barnard had a track record of working with icons like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. Post this contract with Barnard, Brosmer became the highest-paid model in the United States then. Going by her own official website, Brosmer featured on over 300 magazine covers.
And then came a turning point in Betty Brosmer’s career after she gets married to American bodybuilder Joe Weider.
How Betty Brosmer Became Betty Weider??
Brosmer got to meet her prospective husband Joe Weider through Barnard. She even posed for Weider magazine which featured in Figure & Beauty in December 1956. Slowly, she became Weider’s favorite model following which they both started to see each other more frequently for professional reasons. However, as both had common interests in fitness, they came close to one another.
Finally, they tied the knot on the 24th of April, 1961. And then Betty Brosmer came to be known as Betty Weider. This was Joe Weider’s second marriage who already had a daughter from his first marriage. Brosmer and Weider did not have any children together.
Betty Weider – Career as a Writer and Fitness Queen
Weider who is also a physical fitness expert created the International Federation of Bodybuilders and the Mr. Olypmia bodybuilding contest. Joe Weider who later got into publishing the magazines introduced a number of fitness-related magazines like Men’s Health, Muscle & Fitness, and Shape. She also became spokesperson and trainer for health as well as fitness movements.
And this gave Brosmer an opportunity to contribute her part by being an associate editor for Shape Magazine for more than three decades. There has been a transformation in the career of Brosmer from being a commercial model to becoming a magazine columnist. Not just this, Brosmer has been the co-author of a number of books on fitness as well as physical exercise.
Brosmer used to pen down her own columns ‘Body By Betty’ and ‘Health By Betty’. The couple even teamed up to write two books in the 1980s – The Weider Book of Bodybuilding For Women and The Weider Body Book.
Betty Weider’s Life After Joe Weider’s Death
Brosmer’s husband Weider died at the age of 93 in 2013. However, Betty Weider is keeping good at the age of 85. Even today, she is active in promoting the awareness of health and fitness through Shape magazine as well as by writing columns for Power and Beauty. Not just that, Brosmer is also an honorary member of the Olympic Fitness Committee.
Very soon Betty Brosmer Weider will be celebrating her 86th birthday on August 2nd. We wish that Brosmer, the Fitness Queen continues to live a healthy life ahead!
