Star 80 (Dorothy Stratten)

Posted on July 3, 2025 by EricReportsNews

1983 film based on the fatal relationship between Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten and her husband/manager Paul Snider. The screenplay is based on the Village Voice article titled “Death of a Playmate” by Teresa Carpenter. It is the final film directed by Bob Fosse, best known for “Cabaret”, “Lenny” and “All that Jazz”.

“Star 80” is a near miss. At the heart of its defect is the miscasting of Mariel Hemingway. Back in ’83, much was made about Ms. Hemingway’s breast implants that she received for the role. These still don’t make her more like Stratten. Stratten’s voice and manner were different. In the film, Dorothy is portrayed as a nude model victim. She was more than that.

Most of “Star 80’s” accolades were received by co-star Eric Roberts who was nominated for a Golden Globe (Best Actor in a Drama.) He won the Boston Society of Film Critics award.

The story is told through interview segments (those from the “Village Voice” article) and flashbacks from Snider as he ponders his fate following the murder of his wife. It must be said – this is a dramatization – partly truth/partly fiction of what happened.

“Star 80” barely focuses on Dorothy’s other doomed relationship with director Peter Bogdanovich. That’s probably why the real Bogdanovich hated this movie. His character is barely there; his name changed to “Aram Nicholas”, a weak, cerebral man who is partially responsible for the end result.

The third man is Playboy founder/editor Hugh Hefner, played by Cliff Robertson. “Hef” is key to what make Paul Snider tick. Snider follows the teachings of “Playboy” as if it were the Bible. When he finally meets his idol, Hefner is turned off by Snider’s sleazy clothes and ingratiating manner. Snider is aware of it. He is aware the Playboy mansion celebrities can’t stand him. It drives him to madness that the girl he discovers is instantly accepted, while his is barely tolerated. While Dorothy’s star is on the rise, Snider is constantly pushed aside. His attempt at making money from a male strip club revue is stolen from him and eventually turned into “Chippendale’s”.

Snider gets Dorothy cast in a Grade B flick “Galaxina”, released the same week of her death.

Dorothy Stratten with John Ritter from “They All Laughed”

Meeting Dorothy at the mansion, “Aram” seeks to cast her in his latest film project “They All Laughed”. It doesn’t take long for a romance to begin.

Snider suspects she is cheating on him and hires a detective who validates his suspicions. While there are plans to win her back, things soon take a darker turn. Snider buys a shotgun for “protection”. He rants and raves to those who will listen to him that he discovered her and that Hefner and “Aram” have stolen his “Queen”.

The movie reaches its inevitable climax.

“Star 80” received mixed reviews and was not a box-office success earning only half its money back.

“They All Laughed” (1981) with the real Dorothy Stratten did worse. Distributors threatened to dump it. Bogdanovich bought it back and tried to release it himself. Not being able to compete with other film studios, he was driven to bankruptcy.

Dorothy Stratten: Claim of Ownership

Posted on May 8, 2025 by EricReportsNews

The murder of 1980’s Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten has become Internet fodder over the years. Killed because of a love triangle involving her husband Paul Snider and film director Peter Bogdanovich, people forget this was a crime that could have been prevented.

On August 14, 1980, Dorothy met her husband alone in their home to discuss their divorce. Snider was preparing a lawsuit against Bogdanovich for “alienation of affections.” Playboy’s founder Hugh Hefner had barred Snider from his mansion, unless accompanied by his wife. Bogdanovich was busy preparing to make Dorothy a star in “They All Laughed” (1981) and subsequent ventures.

Previously, Paul Snider, acting as Dorothy’s manager, had her cast in “Galaxina” (1980), a sci-fi spoof. He prepared a poster of her for mass-production that was turned down by Dorothy at the insistence of Bogdanovich.

Whatever happened from 12:30 – 1:30 p.m. nobody knows for sure. Dorothy’s lawyer (hired by Bogdanovich) offered a $7,500 divorce settlement to Snider – chickenfeed for someone who wanted half her income, his own house and a Green Card.

Snider knew it was over and with nothing left to lose, he went berserk, raped her, killed her and then killed himself.

Months earlier, Stratten had offered to go back to Vancouver with Paul… to give up show-biz and settle down. But, he refused, wanting that big, brass ring.

Snider was warned by friend actor Max Baer, Jr. to get her out of the business of being famous. No one gets out unscathed. Stratten had told Baer that she didn’t want any of it – it was all Paul’s idea. Later, when it was too late, Snider told Baer he was losing her. What could he say? “I warned you.”

Bogdanovich blamed Hefner for rejecting Snider. But, why didn’t Bogdanovich go to Paul and tell him about the break-up?

CLAIM OF OWNERSHIP

Three men were in control of Dorothy’s life.

Paul Snider with Dorothy

Snider wanted to manage her career: movies, TV, modeling, posters, etc.

Hugh Hefner with Dorothy

Hefner made Stratten his “Playmate of the Year”.

Peter Bogdanovich with Dorothy

Bogdanovich wanted her to star in his films. They were already living together.

Didn’t Dorothy Stratten have her own life? What did she want to do? In her spare time, she wrote poetry and was an avid reader. Fame and the limelight were other people’s notions.

AFTERWARD

Peter Bogdanovich married Dorothy’s sister Louise in 1988. They were divorced in 2001. Since then, Bogdanovich’s only successes were “Mask” (1985) and a role in “The Sopranos”. He died in 2022 from Parkinson’s Disease.

Hugh Hefner continued Playboy until his death in 2017. The mansion was sold and the magazine ceased publication in 2020.

Final issue of Playboy

Dorothy Stratten’s Last Chapter

Posted on April 7, 2022 by EricReportsNews

Dorothy Stratten with Peter Bogdanovich on the set of “They All Laughed”.

August 14th 1980. Playboy’s centerfold of the year Dorothy R. Stratten has less than one day left to live. After a night of making love with director Peter Bogdanovich, she takes one last swim in his pool. He was not aware of her plans to meet husband Paul Snider.

Paul Snider, Dorothy Stratten’s husband.

Paul Snider was at his wit’s end. All his life, he struggled to achieve success and had it snatched away from him.

His car shows…

the mail-order scams…

the women he pimped out…

the Chippendale dancers…

They were all stolen or taken away by men with more money and power. And now it was happening all over again. It was Paul’s idea for Dorothy to pose for Playboy and against all odds, she made it – where millions of other women had failed. People described her as having a luminosity. But without her husband, she’d still be working for the B.C. Telephone.

Playboy’s founder Hugh Hefner with Dorothy Stratten

Hugh Hefner, Playboy’s founder had plans. He would make her a star – the next Marilyn Monroe. The magazine’s cartoon feature “Little Annie Fanny” would become a theatrical film – starring Dorothy.

Little Annie Fanny

Peter Bogdanovich also had plans. He hired a lawyer for Dorothy. Divorce proceedings against her husband were in the works. Eventually, they would marry and he would star her in all his future films. She already had a small, yet significant role in “They All Laughed” (co-starring John Ritter.) Dorothy said she wanted to be in a sad love story, not realizing she was living in one.

John Ritter, Dorothy Stratten and Peter Bogdanovich on the set of “They All Laughed”.

“They All Laughed” would mirror characters from real life – Ritter as Bogdanovich, Dorothy as herself.

With all those around her pulling the strings, what did Dorothy Stratten want? She didn’t like posing nude, but tolerated it to please Paul. It had made her famous and brought her to the brink of fame.

Tonight Show appearance with Johnny Carson.

On that last morning, Dorothy told Peter she might be pregnant with his baby. He shrugged it off and lived to regret it.

Dorothy told her little sister Louise not to tell anybody where she was going – that she’d be back later and they’d go shopping.

Dorothy with Louise Stratten

Louise saw her older sister drive off in her 1967 Cougar. (Paul drove the STAR 80 Mercedes.) Dorothy was weeping.

On the way to see Paul, Dorothy spoke with her business manager. He advised her that she didn’t owe her husband anything. But, Dorothy was adamant that he get some money out of their divorce.

2-story house where Paul Snider lived with his wife Dorothy Stratten. Located near the Santa Monica freeway, the sounds of traffic drowned out the noise of the shotgun blast.

No one knows for sure what happened on 10881 W. Clarkson Road in Los Angeles, except through forensic examinations. “Star 80” (1983), Bob Fosse’s account theorizes that he (Snider) thought he could win his wife back. If so, why did he buy a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun thru the classified ads? Fueled by cocaine, he lost control of what sanity he had left and blew half of Dorothy’s face off. He made attempts to call Bogdanovich who could not be reached by phone. Obviously he planned to kill him too. When that idea failed, Paul blew his brains out, leaving behind a room of splattered gore. The end of America’s new playmate.

Re-created scene (not an actual crime scene photo) of the Snider-Stratten murder-suicide.

It would not be until much later that evening when Peter would find out by a phone call from Hefner. Dropping the phone, his colleagues asked what was wrong.

“She’s dead,” he mumbled.

“What?!”

“Dorothy’s dead!” he screamed, pounding his head into the floor.

Peter Bogdanovich would attempt to put back the pieces of his life by marrying Dorothy’s sister Louise. This would end in divorce in 2001. After a handful of films, the most successful being “Mask” (1985) and TV appearances on “The Soprano’s”, he died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on January 6, 2022.

Because of Paul Snider’s actions, he remains the villain of the story. But, even Bogdanovich called his suicide “a humane act”. Hefner called Snider “a small-time hustler”. But, didn’t Playboy start off as small, taking many years to grow? Didn’t both of these men – knowing Dorothy was married – try to take her away from her husband? Play with fire, you’re gonna get burned. Corner a rat and that rat will fight back.

The murder of Dorothy Stratten didn’t happen in a vacuum. It happened because of lust, greed and power, She remains a causality of a struggle for the perfect female.

Dorothy Stratten’s film “Galaxina” was released the week she died.

Dorothy Stratten Murder Case

Posted on June 6, 2018 by ericreportsnews

Just on the cusp of the 1980’s, Playboy magazine chose Dorothy Stratten as “Playmate of the Year”. She was to be groomed as their latest sex symbol. Would Stratten be the next Marilyn Monroe?

August 14, 1980. Dorothy Stratten is murdered by her husband Paul Snider with a shotgun blast to her face. Snider would do the same to himself. What went wrong? Why couldn’t this have been prevented? It was always about control.

Paul Snider, a small-time pimp from Vancouver, wanted to enter the big leagues and with Dorothy, he nearly made it. In 1977, he found her working at a “Dairy Queen” and eventually convinced her to be Playboy’s latest model.

Founder Hugh Hefner immediately saw her potential. Stratten would be their greatest star.

In 1979, Paul marries Dorothy. He now has fifty percent controlling interest.

Dorothy Stratten with Paul Snider

Poster for “They All Laughed”

Early in 1980, director Peter Bogdanovich casts Dorothy in his latest film, setting the wheels in motion. A fatal love affair begins.

Image result for dorothy stratten and peter bogdanovich

Dorothy with Peter Bogdanovich

Dorothy and Paul’s marriage was never a good one. Why she agreed to it, I can’t be sure, but Snider used it as a way to keep as much of her income as possible. She felt she owed him her career, even though she never wanted to pose nude or achieve fame and fortune. It was all Paul’s idea.

Peter Bogdanovich saw in Dorothy, his soulmate. You could say his movie was the only thing she did that wasn’t exploitive. Dorothy was willing to end her marriage for him, but not for herself.

What convinced her to ultimately leave him?

I suspect it was the poisoning of her puppy – a gift from Hefner. Snider could be jealous even of a dog. People who abuse animals often progress to people.

At the “Playmate of the Year” ceremony, you can see Dorothy pulling away from Paul, flinching, not being able to hold his hand or let him touch her. He knew he was losing control.

In 1980, Dorothy had begun living with Peter. Paul was aware of this. He had hired detectives to follow her.

A last attempt to make money off a poster of Dorothy was rejected. (Peter advised her of this.)

Finally, Hefner barred Paul from the Playboy mansion. From then on, he would be allowed entry only if accompanied by his wife.

Cocaine was the drug of choice at the time and Paul used it for a paranoid high. Add to this, his belief that he was losing Dorothy – his only ticket to the big time and…

The future may have seemed bright for Dorothy Stratten. She had several features in the works. A western (“Harry Tracy’) and Playboy’s version of “Little Annie Fanny”. Plus, Peter’s forthcoming movie.

The only problem she had left was Paul. What did he want?

Snider wanted a house, a green card, full access back inside the Playboy mansion, half of Dorothy’s money and, of course, he wanted his wife back.

“Star 80” (1983), a mostly inaccurate version of what happened, starring Mariel Hemingway (who looks nothing like Dorothy), focuses a great deal on that last day. It can’t be known what they said, but it is known that Paul raped his wife, killed her and then raped her again.

Why did Dorothy go alone? Didn’t she or Peter see this coming? Although, Peter was unaware of her visit, why was she faced with the task of facing a dangerous man by herself?

Bogdanovich partially blamed Hefner for his magazine’s ethics. He would go on to marry her younger sister, Louise, later ending in divorce.

Peter Bogdanovich and Louise Stratten

Dorothy remains a tragic figure, caught in the middle, for her loss of control.

EricReports

Tag Archives: Peter Bogdanovich

Star 80 (Dorothy Stratten)

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