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Born: February 28, 1960
Birthplace: Vancouver, Canada
Died: August 14, 1980
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Dorothy Stratten
Born into a poor Canadian family, Dorothy Stratten was 16 and working at a local Dairy Queen when she met her slick future husband, 26-year-old Paul Snider. Snider was struck by her great beauty and fell in love with her--and her potential to become a big star. By the time she was 18, he convinced her to pose for nude photographs, which he sent to Playboy. After becoming Miss August 1979, Stratten began acting in movies, including Skatetown USA and the Canadian-produced Autumn Born. Later that year, she met film director Peter Bogdanovich, and over the course of filming They All Laughed, the two fell in love. As she and Bogdanovich were planning to marry, Stratten agreed to meet with Snider at their home in West Los Angeles to discuss divorce proceedings. Snider wasn't willing to let her go. He murdered her with a shotgun before turning the gun on himself.
What You Don't Know:
• Stratten was born in a Salvation Army hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia.
• She forged her mother's signature on the model release when she sent her nude pictures to Playboy.
• Snider hired a private detective to follow Stratten around after she moved into Peter Bogdanovich's Bel Air home.
• The 1983 film Star 80, which is based on Stratten and Snider's deadly relationship, was filmed in the actual apartment in which Stratten died.
• On Stratten's Playmate data sheet, she listed her major turnoff as "jealous people."
• Bogdanovich married Stratten's younger sister, Louise, who was born in 1968, a year after Bogdanovich's own daughter. The couple divorced in 2001.
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Related Links
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E! True Hollywood Story now available on satellite radio.
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