Stars compete for Bettie Page role

The bizarre life story of 1950s pinup princess Bettie Page is to be filmed, with Liv Tyler, Charlize Theron and Hilary Swank all vying for the role of the whip-cracking, leather-loving Page.

Page, an iconic beauty who could pose as a fresh-faced girl next door or a leather-clad fetish queen, is a cult figure. At the height of her popularity she was grilled by a Senate committee investigating juvenile delinquency. She was later diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and committed to a mental hospital for 12 years.