On September 13, 1978, The Dating Game host Jim Lange introduced viewers to Rodney Alcala, “a successful photographer” who liked skydiving and riding motorcycles. What the emcee, contestant Cheryl Bradshaw, and the audience at home didn’t know was they were actually looking at the face of a serial killer.
The shocking encounter between Alcala and Bradshaw on the popular game show is the foundation for the new movie Woman of the Hour, now streaming on Netflix. Directed by and starring Anna Kendrick as a fictionalized version of Bradshaw, the Netflix film gives a dramatized account of how the young bachelorette met the now infamous “Dating Game Killer,” played by Daniel Zovatto.
Alcala, who was convicted of seven murders during his lifetime but might have been involved in more than 100 total, is now considered among the most dangerous killers in history. But almost five decades ago, he was able to use his good looks and wit to coax his way onto television—and nearly within reach of another victim.
Alcala served prison time before The Dating Game
While authorities were unaware of the full extent of his depravity—it was later determined he had killed four women by 1977—Alcala was a registered sex offender and had served prison time before appearing on The Dating Game.
Born in August 1943 in San Antonio, Alcala had exhibited troubling behavior from his teenage years. The U.S. Army discharged him in 1964 after he suffered a breakdown and was diagnosed with an antisocial personality disorder. He then began attending college in California.
In 1968, Alcala committed his first known violent crime. According to The Washington Post, he lured 8-year-old Tali Shapiro into his car as she walked to school in Los Angeles. Alcala sexually assaulted the girl and beat her with a steel bar before fleeing the scene. (Editor’s note: Shapiro has since discussed the attack publicly, which is why Biography.com is naming her.)
By 1971, the fugitive was included on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. He used the alias “John Berger” to avoid detection, but teenagers at a New Hampshire summer camp recognized him from a wanted poster. In 1972, Alcala returned to California and was arrested and convicted of child molestation. He went to prison but received parole and was released by 1974.
“My impression was that it was his first sex crime, and we got him early—and society is relatively safe now,” Steve Hodel, a detective who investigated the Shaprio case, told LA Weekly in 2010. “I had no idea in two years [he would be out] and continue his reign of terror and horror. I expected he was put away and society was safe.”
In March 1978, police questioned Alcala about a series of deaths known as the Hillside Strangler killings. When they cleared him of any wrongdoing, they didn’t realize he was responsible for a different set of murders. Seemingly able to hide his worst impulses from authorities, the brash Alcala showed no fear as he appeared on national television only six months later.
Alcala made a contestant and a producer uneasy
Having premiered in December 1965, The Dating Game typically featured a young woman questioning three potential suitors without knowing what they looked like before choosing one for a date. The game show proved popular and continued to air in different installments through 1999. Well-known figures occasionally joined in. Among the celebrities who appeared on the show in some capacity were Farrah Fawcett, Suzanne Somers, Tom Selleck, Steve Martin, Burt Reynolds, and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
In 1978, as ABC News reported, there was no national crime database, and the technology needed for complete background checks on contestants didn’t exist. So when Alcala auditioned for The Dating Game in front of soon-to-be-married executive producer Mike Metzger and casting director Ellen Metzger, neither knew of his illicit past.
Still, Alcala, who was 35 at the time, needed to be charming enough for TV. While Ellen believed female viewers would find Alcala appealing, Mike detected “a mystique about him that I found uncomfortable.” Alcala ultimately passed but showed more warning signs moments before going on air. Jed Mills, the second of the three bachelors vying for Bradshaw’s attention, told Inside Edition he found Alcala “a real creepy guy” backstage and recalled him saying, “I always get my girl!”
In this case, the woman he was after was Bradshaw. Host Jim Lange introduced her as a former masseuse and schoolteacher from Phoenix. When she asked Alcala to compare himself to food, he called himself “the banana” and suggestively told Bradshaw to “peel me.”
Such double entendres were typical of The Dating Game, which producers wanted to be “sexier and much more provocative” than other TV shows. “We were looking for raunchy, sexy answers, and that was one,” producer David Greenfield told ABC News. “Take it in context now, it’s like, ‘Oh my God.’”
Bradshaw picked Alcala but canceled their date
Surprisingly, the fruit-themed pickup line worked. Playfully telling host Lange, “I like bananas,” Bradshaw chose Bachelor No. 1 as her date and met Alcala moments later, with the pair sharing a seemingly warm embrace. Their date was set to include tennis lessons and tickets to the Magic Mountain theme park in Valencia, California.
But according to Ellen Metzger, Bradshaw’s enthusiasm quickly waned when the pair were fully introduced after the show. The following day, Bradshaw called Metzger and asked to cancel their date. “She said, ‘Ellen, I can’t go out with this guy. There’s weird vibes that are coming off of him. He’s very strange. I am not comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?’ And of course, I said, ‘No,’” Metzger explained.
Bradshaw’s intuition is often credited with saving her life, though she wouldn’t have been alone with Alcala had they gone out. According to Greenfield, every potential couple from the show had a chaperone for their first meet.
Still, it’s clear she avoided potential danger. “When I watch the show now, it’s hard for me to watch it without looking behind his eyes and knowing what this guy had to be thinking. Just the evil behind the smile,” Greenfield said.
Alcala was arrested soon after the show
Authorities believe Bradshaw’s rejection might have spurred Alcala to continue his violent crime spree in the months that followed. Less than a year after his Dating Game appearance, Alcala was arrested in July 1979 in connection with the killing of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe. According to The Washington Post, police obtained a warrant for Alcala based on his record and his known habit of photographing children.
Alcala was twice convicted of killing Samsoe, in 1980 and 1986, and sentenced to death. After a federal appeals court overturned his sentence in 2003 and ordered a new trial, DNA evidence linked Alcala to four additional murder victims, all women, who were killed between 1977 and 1979.
A jury convicted Alcala of all five murders in 2010 and again sentenced him to death. He pleaded guilty to two additional murders after a 2012 indictment, but the true number of Alcala’s victims might never be known. According to the Associated Press, authorities believe he might be responsible for up to 130 deaths.
Alcala was never executed. He died of natural causes in late July 2021 at a hospital near Corcoran State Prison in California.
Meanwhile, little is known about Bradshaw following her infamous TV appearance. Given the dramatized nature of Woman of the Hour, anything the movie reveals about her personal life should be taken with a grain of salt.
Watch Woman of the Hour on Netflix Now
Director and star Anna Kendrick told Netflix’s Tudum Woman of the Hour isn’t about examining the true story of Rodney Alcala but rather how the popular culture failed to prioritize actual and potential victims of violent crime because of “incompetence and negligence.”
“I really like the complicated journey of a woman who is shrinking herself and being very pleasing and then manages to rebel and take back some power,” Kendrick said. “I love the fact that it isn’t as simple as, ‘Oh, she asserts herself and everything works out great.’ Because this is the bargain we’re making every day: How much do I live authentically, and how much danger does that actually put me in?”
Woman of the Hour began streaming Friday on Netflix. In addition to Kendrick, the movie stars Daniel Zovatto as Alcala and Tony Hale as fictional Dating Game host Ed Burke.
Tyler Piccotti joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor and is now the News and Culture Editor. He previously worked as a reporter and copy editor for a daily newspaper recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors. In his current role, he shares the true stories behind your favorite movies and TV shows and profiles rising musicians, actors, and athletes. When he's not working, you can find him at the nearest amusement park or movie theater and cheering on his favorite teams.
