Death of a Centerfold | |
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Also known as | Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story |
Genre |
|
Based on | Life of Dorothy Stratten |
Written by | Donald E. Stewart |
Directed by | Gabrielle Beaumont |
Starring | Jamie Lee Curtis Bruce Weitz Robert Reed |
Theme music composer | Roger Webb |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Executive producer | Larry Wilcox |
Producers | Paul Pompian Tim King |
Cinematography | Emil Oster |
Editor | Morton Tubor |
Running time | 96 minutes |
Production companies | Wilcox Productions MGM Television |
Original release | |
Network | NBC |
Release | November 1, 1981 |
Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story is a 1981 American made-for-television biographical drama film, optioned by Larry Wilcox and his company Wilcox Productions. Wilcox signed the paperwork at midnight and beat out Hugh Hefner and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Later, Wilcox developed the story and pitched it to MGM, where he had a production development deal and subsequently to NBC. MGM and Wilcox then hired director Gabrielle Beaumont. [1] It is a dramatization of the life and the murder of Playboy Playmate of the Year Dorothy Stratten, played by Jamie Lee Curtis. [1] The movie aired on November 1, 1981. [2] Two years later, the same story was developed by director Bob Fosse in his movie Star 80 , starring Mariel Hemingway and Eric Roberts.
The film depicts the life and times of model, actress, and 1980 Playboy Playmate of the year Dorothy Stratten, who was killed at age 20 in a murder–suicide committed by her estranged husband Paul Snider.
The TV production was optioned and owned by Larry Wilcox of CHiPs fame, and he negotiated a deal with MGM and NBC for the story to become a movie of the week. At the family's insistence, the names and relationships of her mother and sister were altered. [2]
The New York Times critic John J. O'Connor praised the movie, writing: "the movie works remarkably well in building a dramatic momentum. Jamie Lee Curtis's Dorothy is a thoroughly understandable, if not sympathetic figure. And Bruce Weitz is extraordinary". [3] People magazine also praised the film, writing: "Jamie Lee Curtis is just right as Stratten, and Bruce Weitz is a standout as her ex". [4] Movie critic Leonard Maltin described the film as "exploitative". [1]
Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story finished 27th in the Nielsen ratings. When the film was broadcast a second time on NBC in July 1983, it fared better by finishing fourth in the ratings. [2] [5]
The movie was first issued on VHS on September 1, 1998. It later was released on January 25, 2010, on DVD.
Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten, known professionally as Dorothy Stratten, was a Canadian model and actress, primarily known for her appearances as a Playboy Playmate. Stratten was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for August 1979 and Playmate of the Year in 1980, and appeared in three comedy films and in several episodes of TV shows broadcast on American networks. Dorothy was murdered shortly after co-starring in the movie They All Laughed, at the age of 20, by her estranged husband and manager Paul Snider, whom she was in the process of divorcing and breaking business ties with. Snider committed suicide after he killed Stratten.
Star 80 is a 1983 American biographical drama film written and directed by Bob Fosse. It was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Village Voice article "Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter and is based on Canadian Playboy model Dorothy Stratten, who was murdered by her husband Paul Snider in 1980. The film's title is taken from one of Snider's vanity license plates. The film was Fosse's final film before his death in 1987.
A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and turn-offs. At the end of the year, one of the 12 Playmates of the Month is named Playmate of the Year (PMOTY). Every Playmate of the Month is awarded a prize of US$25,000 and each Playmate of the Year receives an additional prize of US$100,000 plus a car and other discretionary gifts. In addition, Anniversary Playmates are usually chosen to celebrate a milestone year of the magazine. The use of the word "Playmate" in a sexual sense did not originate with Playboy, and was seen at least as early as 1950 in Vue magazine.
Mariel Hemingway is an American actress. She began acting at age 14 with a Golden Globe-nominated breakout role in Lipstick (1976), and she received Academy and BAFTA Award nominations for her performance in Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979).
The centerfold or centrefold of a magazine is the inner pages of the middle sheet, usually containing a portrait, such as a pin-up or a nude. The term can also refer to the model featured in the portrait. In saddle-stitched magazines, the centerfold does not have any blank space cutting through the image.
Susan Lynn Kiger is an American model and actress. Kiger was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for January 1977. Her centerfold was photographed by Pompeo Posar and Ken Marcus. In addition, she appeared on the cover of Playboy three times: March 1977, November 1977, and April 1978.
Paul Leslie Snider was a criminal Canadian nightclub promoter and pimp who murdered his estranged wife, Playboy model and actress Dorothy Stratten. Following her murder, Snider killed himself.
Ashley Cox is an American model and actress.
Mario Anthony Casilli was an American photographer. Among other photos, he worked for Playboy magazine between 1957 and 1996 and his first photoshoot there was of Jacquelyn Prescott, as Playmate of the Month of September 1957.
Dwight Hooker was an American photographer and architect. He was best known as a photographer for Playboy magazine and has been described as one of the masters of "the sensual and the erotic", along with photographers Helmut Newton and J. Frederick Smith. One of his photographs became the basis of Lenna, the standard test image for image processing algorithms and related scientific publications.
The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten 1960–1980 is a book by Peter Bogdanovich detailing the relationship between Bogdanovich and Dorothy Stratten, the making of They All Laughed and Stratten's murder. There is also criticism of Hugh Hefner and Playboy and its treatment of women.