Quick Facts
- NAME: Dorothy Stratten
- OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Model
- BIRTH DATE: February 26, 1960
- DEATH DATE: August 14, 1980
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- PLACE OF DEATH: West Los Angeles, California
- Originally: Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten
- AKA: Dorothy Hoogstraten
- Full Name: Dorothy Ruth Stratten
- AKA: Dorothy Stratten
Best Known For
Dorothy Stratten was a Playboy model and actress before she was murdered at the age of 20.
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Dorothy Stratten - Full BIography
Dorothy Stratten, a beautiful actress and Playboy playmate, was shotgunned to death at age 20 by Paul Snider, her control-freak manager and husband, who then turned the shotgun on himself.
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Play NowDorothy Stratten. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 04:37, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/dorothy-stratten-11735768.
Dorothy Stratten. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dorothy-stratten-11735768 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Dorothy Stratten." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 04:37 http://www.biography.com/people/dorothy-stratten-11735768.
"Dorothy Stratten," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/dorothy-stratten-11735768 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Dorothy Stratten," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/dorothy-stratten-11735768 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Dorothy Stratten [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/dorothy-stratten-11735768.
Dorothy Stratten, http://www.biography.com/people/dorothy-stratten-11735768 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Dorothy Stratten. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/dorothy-stratten-11735768. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Born in Canada in 1960, Dorothy Stratten was Playboy’s Playmate of the Year in 1980. After being cast in Peter Bogdanovich's They All Laughed, Stratten and Bogdanivich began having an affair. As her fame grew, her husband, Paul Snider, became increasingly jealous and resentful. Shortly after they separated, on August 14, 1980, she visited Snider at his home in West Los Angeles, California,
where he shot her to death before turning the gun on himself.
Early Life and Career
Dorothy Stratten was born Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten on February 26, 1960, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After high school, Stratten began dating Paul Snider, a small-time promoter who encouraged her to take a few nude photos to enter Playboy's 25th Anniversary Playmate search in 1978. Though she lost the Anniversary contest, Stratten did become a playmate for the magazine's August 1979 issue. Stratten and Snider were soon married, and her career grew to include film offers and the coveted title of Playmate of the Year in 1980.
Murdered by Paul Snider
After being cast in Peter Bogdanovich's They All Laughed, Stratten and the director began having an affair. As her fame grew, Snider became increasingly jealous and resentful. Shortly after Stratten and Snider separated, on August 14, 1980, she visited Snider at his home in West Los Angeles, California. There, Snider shot her to death before turning the gun on himself.
Stratten's story was told in 1983's Star 80, director Bob Fosse's last film. She was also the subject of Bogdanovich's 1984 book The Killing of the Unicorn.
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