Betty Broadbent was born Sue Lillian Brown on November 1, 1909, in Zellwood, Florida, and raised in Philadelphia.[2][1] At fourteen she was working as a nanny in Atlantic City when she met the tattooed performer Jack Redcloud, who introduced her to Charlie Wagner.[2][1] Over about two years, beginning in 1926 or 1927, Wagner and Joe Van Hart covered her with a bodysuit of more than 565 designs.[2][1] She became one of the most photographed tattooed women of the century, rode in Wild West shows, toured as far as Australia, and in 1939 walked into a World’s Fair beauty contest. This page follows that career, and it keeps her own later remarks in her own words.
Quick facts
- Born
- November 1, 1909, Zellwood, Florida, as Sue Lillian Brown; raised in Philadelphia
- Died
- March 28, 1983, Florida, in her sleep
- Known as
- Betty Broadbent; “the Tattooed Venus”
- Tattooed by
- Charlie Wagner and Joe Van Hart, beginning in 1926 or 1927 (sources differ). Wikipedia also names Tony Rhineagear and Red Gibbons
- Designs
- More than 565, including a Madonna and child on her back, Lindbergh on the right leg, Pancho Villa on the left, and a spread eagle across the shoulders
- Retired
- 1967, near Tampa
Atlantic City, Charlie Wagner and a two-year suit
The introduction in Atlantic City sent her to New York and to Wagner’s room at the foot of the Bowery.[1][2] Sources differ by a year on when the work began: 1926 in some accounts, 1927 in others.[1][2] Joe Van Hart, Wagner’s partner on the job, is named consistently. Wikipedia also lists Tony Rhineagear and Red Gibbons among the tattooers.[2]
The finished suit, by Wikipedia’s count, had more than 565 designs.[2] Among the pieces later writers single out are a Madonna and child on her back, Charles Lindbergh on the right leg, Pancho Villa on the left, and a spread eagle across the shoulders that took six sittings.[2][1] On a souvenir card she later said, “It was done for professional reasons only. I have no regrets.”[2] To a New York Times reporter, on May 3, 1939, she said, “It hurt something awful, but it was worth it.”[2]
Ringling, the World’s Fair and the long road
Clyde Ingalls brought her to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.[2][1] She also rode steers and horses, including with Tom Mix and with Harry Carey’s Wild West show, and she worked for Cole Bros. and Sells-Floto.[2][1] In 1937 she toured Australia and New Zealand, where the Sydney photographs in our gallery were made.[2][5]
At the 1939 New York World’s Fair she appeared in John Hix’s “Strange As It Seems” and entered the televised “Fairest of the Fair” beauty contest — a booking that treated a heavily tattooed woman as a beauty contestant, not only as a sideshow exhibit.[2][1]
In the off-seasons she tattooed, including in San Francisco arcades and in Montreal and New York.[1][2] A 1956 pay stub, preserved in later accounts, was for $220.[1] She retired in 1967, near Tampa.[1][2]
Hall of Fame and last years
In 1981 she became the first inductee of the Tattoo Hall of Fame.[1][2] Interviewed for the Tattoo Archive that year, she said, “Boy, do I miss the people and the travel.”[1] She died on March 28, 1983, in Florida, in her sleep.[2][1]
Her career sits at a hinge in the sideshow’s history: tattooed in a Bowery shop, exhibited in the last great circus decades, and still famous enough, in 1939, to walk into a World’s Fair contest under her own name. The photographs from Sydney, and the earlier Bowery sittings, are why her face is still the one many people picture when they picture a tattooed lady.
NYC Tattoo Shop is at 141 Canal St, a short walk from the shops where Wagner tattooed her. The history here belongs to New York. We’re proud to work nearby.
Photo gallery
The seated portrait is from the NYC Tattoo Shop History Digital Archive. The two 1938 Sydney photographs are by Ray Olsen (also spelled Olson) for Pix magazine, State Library of New South Wales, via Wikimedia Commons, with no known copyright restrictions / public domain.
