Bettie Page, one of the most photographed pin-up girls of the 1950s, who stirred controversy for her not-very-conventional way of posing and facilitated the entrance of the 1960s sexual revolution, passed away on Thursday night at Kindred Hospital in Los Angeles. She was 85.

The former model was placed on life support last week after she suffered a heart attack on December 2 and never regained consciousness, according to her agent, Mark Roesler. He explained that he and the star’s family took the difficult decision of removing life support.

Bettie Page, who was one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy magazine, had been in hospital for three weeks due to pneumonia.

Mark Roesler wrote in a statement that Bettie Page managed to draw the admiration of an entire generation thanks to her “free spirit and unabashed sensuality,” adding that the ex-pin-up girl was the “embodiment of beauty.”

Bettie Page gained national prominence by revealing her seductive body on the covers of various magazines, which also included pictures of her wearing nothing but bikinis.

Her portfolio consists of a centerfold in the January 1955 issue of the back-then two-year-old Playboy magazine.

Bettie Page strangely vanished from the spotlight during the past decades and has fought mental illness throughout this time.

Although she made public appearances in the 1990s as well, she did not allow photographers to take her picture. She did, however, offer several interviews.