Dorothy Stratten's story was brief, glorious and tragic. Born in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. She grew up in a rough neighborhood in Vancouver, but kept out of trouble and went through the motions of school. While not a beauty as a child, nor early teen, Stratten came into her own out of high school and attracted the attention of Paul Snider, a promoter and wannabe star. He started dating her and after seeing an advertisement for Playboy's 25th Anniversary Playmate search in 1978, convinced her to pose for photos. Playboy saw the potential in Stratten and flew her out to Los Angeles, where she became a candidate. Although she lost out to Candy Loving, Stratten was made a Playmate in the August, 1979 issue of Playboy. Soon after, she was pressured into marrying Snider, who had a Svengali-like influence on her. After her centerfold came out, Stratten found work in a few movies, notably Americathon and Skatetown, USA., as well as being the object of Richard Dawson's affection in an ABC-TV special shot at the Playboy mansion. Clearly, her star was on the rise. In 1980, it was revealed that Stratten would be tabbed as the Playmate of the Year by Playboy publisher and founder Hugh Hefner. While this was one of the crowning achievements of her career, things were not going well in her marriage to Snider. He bothered her on the set of the movie Galaxina and when Snider found out she was developing more than a friendly relationship with director Peter Bogdonavich, Snider grew increasingly frustrated. After a separation, Snider bought a gun and talked Stratten into coming to the apartment they used to share in West Los Angeles. Snider tied her up, sexually assaulted her and put the gun (a shotgun) next to her face and pulled the trigger. Snider then turned the gun on himself to complete the murder-suicide. Since her death, Stratten has become something of a minor cult fixture, and has had two (one a television) movies a song and a couple of books written about her. The last movie she was in, "They All Laughed, " was released after her death.



Playboy Playmate of the Month August 1979. Murdered by husband, Paul Snider. In high school (c. 1974-1977), she worked at the local Dairy Queen in Vancouver, British Columbia. 2109 East Hastings Street. Bogdanovich married Dorothy's little sister Louise Stratten. The song written in Dorothy's honor is "Cover Girl" by Prism. Born in a Salvation Army hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia. On Stratten's Playmate data sheet, she listed her major turnoff as "jealous people." Graduated from Centennial High School in Coquitlam, B.C. in 1978 Her tombstone features a quote from Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms." Ironically, Hemingway's granddaughter Mariel Hemingway portrayed her in Bob Fosse's Star 80 (1983). Is buried 2 1/2 miles away from the Playboy Mansion Appeared on the cover of the Vancouver Canadians (AAA Pacific Coast League Baseball) program, one month before her death.