Death of a Starlet
In August of 1980, Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten was found dead at just 20 years old. She was the girl next door with the shy smile and whispery voice who didn’t know her own beauty. To Hugh Hefner, she was his next Marilyn Monroe. To famed director Peter Bogdonovich, she was his muse. And to her husband, Paul Snider, she was his ticket to fame and fortune. All three ambitious men adored her. Only one of them murdered her. How did Dorothy’s Hollywood dreams lead to her death? From Wondery, and the team behind the hit series Hollywood & Crime (The Dating Game Killer, The Wonderland Murders) comes a six-part series about love, sex and murder. Co-hosted by Tracy Pattin and Josh Lucas.
Episodes
Nineteen eighty was going to be Dorothy Stratten’s year. Playboy’s Hugh Hefner thought it might even be her decade. She was just 20 years old, the girl next door with the shy smile and whispery voice who didn’t know her own beauty. But to the men in her life -- magazine mogul Hugh Hefner, director Peter Bogdanovich, and small time hustler Paul Snider -- Dorothy represented the promise of better things -- a centerfold on her way to ...
Seventeen-year-old Dorothy Stratten is working at Dairy Queen in East Vancouver when a man walks in who will change her life. His name is Paul Snider and around town he’s known as a hustler and a pimp. Paul sees Dorothy as his ticket to Hollywood. As their relationship progresses, Paul tries to convince Dorothy to pose nude to enter a Playboy 25th Anniversary playmate hunt.
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After seeing Dorothy’s photos, Playboy flies her to LA for a test shoot. At the Playboy mansion, Dorothy meets Hugh Hefner for the first time. Back in Vancouver, Paul makes sure whatever fortune falls upon Dorothy benefits him as well.
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Dorothy and Paul move to LA where Dorothy starts shooting her centerfold pictorial. To make ends meet, she gets a job as a Bunny at the Playboy Club where she learns being a Bunny isn’t as glamorous as it seems. Paul works his next hustle by convincing a club owner to try out a new idea -- male Chippendales dancers.
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It’s the beginning of a new chapter when Dorothy meets director Peter Bogdanovich and he asks her to audition for a role in his new film. Then when Dorothy’s Playboy centerfold issue comes out, it puts her on a path toward Playmate of the Year. When she hires a business manager, it sets Paul off who vows to do whatever it takes to keep control of her career.
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Dorothy heads to New York to start shooting with Peter on his film. As the two grow closer, the crack starts to widen between her and Paul. In LA, Paul concocts a series of schemes to get a cut of Dorothy’s money.
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Talkspace - Use promo code STARLET to get $100 off your first month of Talkspace.
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As Dorothy’s career continues to blossom, Paul’s life is falling apart. He embarks on a series of desperate measures to win Dorothy back and hires a private investigator to follow her. As Dorothy pulls farther away, Paul begins to lose control setting them on a catastrophic course.
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Tracy speaks with Playboy’s veteran photo editor and close friend to Dorothy Stratten, Marilyn “Mo” Grabowski. Mo opens up about her 40 year career at Playboy, her friendships with Dorothy and Hugh Hefner, meeting the man who killed Dorothy, and why she thinks Dorothy’s story continues to captivate audiences to this day.
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A woman named Becki is lounging by the pool at the Fontainebleau Hotel when she decides to proposition a strapping pool attendant. Go on a date with her...and her husband. What begins as an unconventional proposition will soon throw them all into the international spotlight. And that’s because the couple is none other than Jerry Falwell Jr. and his wife Becki, two of the most powerful figures in Evangelical America. Wondery present...
British scandals change the course of history. They bring down governments, overthrow the rich, and cause the mighty to fall. And in the end, they’re all about power. Wondery presents: British Scandal, a new podcast hosted by Alice Levine & Matt Forde. The premiere season takes you into the sinister world of Russian politics and a killer scandal that shook all of Britain. When former KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko is found dead b...
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