Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten, known professionally as Dorothy Stratten, was a Canadian Playboy Playmate, model, and actress. Stratten was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for August 1979 and Playmate of the Year in 1980. Stratten appeared in three comedy films and in at least two episodes of shows broadcast on US network television. She was murdered at the age of 20 by her estranged husband and manager Paul Snider, who committed suicide on the same day. Her death inspired two motion pictures, the 1981 TV movie Death of a Centerfold and the 1983 theatrical release Star 80, as well as the book The Killing of the Unicorn and the songs "Californication" by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, "The Best Was Yet to Come" by Bryan Adams, and "Cover Girl" by Prism.
Star 80 is a 1983 American biographical drama film written and directed by Bob Fosse, adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Village Voice article "Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter and 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.
A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOM). The PMOM'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 (PMOY). 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 centerfold or centrefold of a magazine refers to a gatefolded spread, usually a portrait such as a pin-up or a nude, inserted in the middle of the publication, or to the model featured in the portrait. In saddle-stitched magazines, the centerfold does not have any blank space cutting through the image.
Bruce Peter Weitz is an American actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Sgt. Michael "Mick" Belker in the TV series Hill Street Blues, which ran from 1981 until 1987. Weitz won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 1984 for his role in the series.
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 Canadian businessman who is best known for the murder of his estranged wife, Playboy model and actress Dorothy Stratten. Following her murder, Snider killed himself.
Ashley Cox is an American model and actress.
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.
Kristina and Karissa Shannon are American pornographic actresses, Playboy Playmates, and twin sisters.
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.
