Bunny Yeager is a pin-up model that stands out in the annals of history for a few reasons.
For one thing, Bunny was a quick learner that figured out how to use the camera early into
her career and soon became a notable photographer in her own right.
For another thing, Bunny’s subsequent work as a photographer helped legitimize the career
of legendary fellow pin-up model Bettie Page.
Join Facts Verse as we explore how pin-up model Bunny Yeager did her best work behind
the camera.
Bunny Yeager’s Early Life Bunny Yeager was born in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania,
in 1929.
Having been raised in a relatively small town, Bunny grew to fantasize about Hollywood stardom
at a young age.
While Bunny never attained Hollywood stardom over the course of her life, she would certainly
go on to attain a kind of stardom in her own right.
Bunny’s dream of attaining celebrity led to her moving out to Miami at the age of only
17.
There, she graduated from Miami Edison Senior High School and then set her sights on becoming
a professional model.
She enrolled at a local modeling school/agency and quickly began drawing attention from clients
around the area.
During her early modeling days in Miami, Bunny utilized beauty pageants to help make a name
for herself.
Bunny was successful in many of these pageants and quickly gained a reputation.
In 1949, the rising talent won a beauty contest where the winner got to be crowned in front
of a crowd by Joe DiMaggio.
This was at a time before the famous baseball player was romantically involved with Marilyn
Monroe.
He was certainly a very sought-after bachelor at the time, and Bunny likely felt that she
was achieving star status just by being in his vicinity.
Bunny Yeager had some secret weapons at her disposal in her modeling career, and those
were her bikinis.
At the time when Bunny Yeager became famous, bikinis weren’t yet being sold in stores.
However, Bunny could always be seen wearing one!
The bikinis that Bunny wore during her modeling days were homemade, and she claimed that she
never wore the same homemade bikini twice.
Bunny’s homemade bikinis helped popularize the sexy bathing suit, as one-piece bathing
suits had been the norm up until that point.
Once Bunny came on the scene, other models started making their own two-piece bathing
suits.
Eventually, they wound up in stores!
Bunny Yeager Did More Than Popularize the Bikini
Bunny Yeager’s homemade bikinis certainly made her a trendsetter in the world of pin-up
modeling, but that was far from the only way that the model pushed boundaries during her
career.
Early on in Bunny’s modeling career, the young woman realized that she was exceptionally
particular about the way that she looked on camera.
Not only did Bunny insist on designing the bathing suits that she wore herself, but she
also often insisted on taking control of how she was being photographed.
The more control Bunny exercised over the way she was being photographed, the more she
grew to learn about photography.
From there, it was only a short period of time before Bunny became her own photographer.
Once Bunny made the transition from subject to photographer, she also began photographing
other pin-up models.
Later on in her career, Bunny would photograph more traditional subject matter, including
film premieres.
Bunny Yeager certainly proved herself a versatile figure over the course of her career.
In addition to being a model and a photographer in the pin-up world that designed her own
swimwear, she also worked as an actress, singer, and filmmaker at various points during her
life.
She was even a Girl Scout leader!
Bunny was no joke behind the camera.
She photographed numerous models for Playboy early in the magazine’s lifespan, and her
work with the magazine helped make it more popular.
It has also been claimed that Bunny Yeager spent some time with Sammy Davis Jr., during
which she mentored him on how to photograph models.
Later in Bunny Yeager’s career, she branched out from the world of pin-up photography to
photograph such varied locations as Latin America and the Caribbean.
These trips led to the publication of books like Camera on Jamaica and Camera on Mexico.
In the years leading up to her death, Bunny proved that she was capable of shooting much
more than just a beautiful woman and that she was much more than just a beautiful woman
herself!
If you’re enjoying this video so far, be sure to hit the like button to show your support!
Also, subscribe to the channel if you’d like to be among the first to know when more
Facts Verse videos are on their way!
Bunny’s Professional Relationship with Hugh Hefner
During the 1950s, Bunny Yeager’s versatile talents in the world of pin-up photography
caught the eye of a burgeoning publication by the name of Playboy.
Bunny Yeager became a close and personal confidante of the magazine’s founder, Hugh Hefner.
However, Hugh’s interest in Bunny Yeager was neither romantic nor sexual.
Instead, it seems that Hugh viewed Bunny as somewhat of a peer in the adult-entertainment
industry.
Not only did Bunny begin to work for Hugh as a photographer, but it also seems that
she ended up having a good deal of behind-the-scenes influence when it came to the overall content
of the magazine.
This influence didn’t necessarily come from a professional position that Bunny held, but
instead from the fact that Hugh simply valued her input.
Beyond working together, Bunny and Hugh were also pen pals, and many of their letters to
one another have been released.
The letters between Bunny Yeager and Hugh Hefner aren’t the only pieces of correspondence
that have been made public record in the wake of the prior figure’s death.
Bunny loved communicating with her many friends through the mail, and there are countless
letters left behind that the former model and photographer sent to all sorts of different
people.
These letters offer a peak into the mind of the seminal pin-up model that fans have certainly
appreciated.
However, one or two things that have been learned about the model suggest that she wasn’t
quite the blameless figure some think.
Given that Bunny Yeager made a name for herself as a pin-up photographer at a time when the
overwhelming majority of pin-up photographers were male, some have come to view Bunny as
somewhat of a feminist icon.
This began occurring even before Bunny’s death, and the former pin-up model and photographer
certainly leaned into this image in the years leading up to it.
However, the letters left behind upon Bunny’s passing suggest that the model wasn’t always
as progressive as one might imagine.
In fact, it seems that there was a good reason that people like Hugh Heffner viewed Bunny
as one of their peers.
When it came to picking models, Bunny was just as sexist as any other pin-up photographer
at the time.
In fact, Bunny apparently pleaded with Hugh early on in Playboy’s lifespan that the
figurehead needed to hire bustier models for the burgeoning publication.
As far as models that didn’t meet Bunny’s strict physical standards, she didn’t mince
words about how valueless she found them.
Bunny Helped Legitimize Bettie Page If Bunny Yeager wanted Playboy to hire bustier
models, she knew just where to find them!
Bunny worked with many beautiful pin-up models over the course of her career.
However, the most legendary- or, notorious- of them all would have to be Bettie Page!
At the time when Bunny Yeager and Bettie Page began working together, Bettie Page was an
underground figure that was best known for her work in the BDSM scene.
While this work was modestly lucrative and gave Bettie cult popularity, it was Bunny
who truly solidified the pin-up model’s legacy.
Bettie worked with Bunny Yeager just before retiring from the world of pin-up modeling
altogether, and the photos of the model taken by Bunny remain some of the most iconic photos
of her in existence.
According to the late Bettie Page, she felt freer working with Bunny than she had with
any other photographer… and this wasn’t just because she wasn’t in bondage!
Bunny Yeager never intended to become a photographer.
Upon her entrance into the world of photography, the model-turned-photographer was given the
distinction of being the “World’s Prettiest Photographer” by the photography magazine
U.S. Camera.
Bunny sold her very first photo of another model in 1954.
That model was a woman by the name of Maria Stinger, and Bunny sold a photo of her to
a publication by the name of Eye.
Some of the many ways that Bunny stood out as a photographer was by creating homemade
bikinis for her subjects, as well as by making sure that they were always doing something
interesting in an attractive location.
One of Bunny Yeager’s most iconic photo shoots remains the Christmas-themed shoot
she did with Bettie Page in 1955.
Bunny ended up selling the photos to Playboy, and the rest is history!
This shoot proved the start of Bunny, Bettie, and Playboy all working together.
Over the ensuing 1950s, all three of the adult-entertainment entities would become much bigger deals than
they had been previously, and they all largely had each other to thank.
Bunny Yeager’s Legacy and Later Life Bettie Page quit the world of pin-up modeling
not longer after working with Bunny Yeager, and Bunny Yeager turned her back on pin-up
photography towards the end of the 1970s.
In the years leading up to her 2014 death, Bunny continued working as a photographer
in various capacities outside of the pin-up industry.
Though she grew to explore interests outside of adult entertainment, she never shied away
from talking about her history as a pin-up model and photographer in the years leading
up to her passing.
Bunny Yeager started out as a pin-up model and made history by popularizing the bikini,
but that was only the start of the legend’s groundbreaking career.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that pin-up model-turned-photographer
Bunny Yeager had to craft her own bikinis because they weren’t available in stores
at the time and that she gave Hugh Hefner professional advice on how to make Playboy
more popular?
As always, like this video to show your support, subscribe, and hit the notification bell if
you’d like to be among the first to know when more Facts Verse videos are on their
way!