26 Facts About Dorothy Stratten

Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten, known professionally as Dorothy Stratten, was a Canadian model and actress, primarily known for her appearances as a Playboy Playmate.

Dorothy Stratten was murdered shortly after starring in the movie Galaxina 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.

Dorothy Stratten was born in Grace Maternity Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on February 28,1960, to Simon and Nelly Hoogstraten, who had emigrated from the Netherlands.

In 1977, Dorothy Stratten was attending Centennial High School in Coquitlam.

Snider later had a photographer take professional nude photos of Dorothy Stratten which were sent to Playboy magazine in the summer of 1978.

Dorothy Stratten was under the age of 19, so she had to persuade her mother to sign the model release form.

Hugh Hefner had high hopes that Dorothy Stratten could have meaningful crossover success as an actress.

Dorothy Stratten featured in episodes of the television series Buck Rogers and Fantasy Island in 1979.

On March 22,1980, Dorothy Stratten flew to New York City to begin work on what became her last film project, They All Laughed, a romantic comedy being directed by Peter Bogdanovich.

Dorothy Stratten had spent the first two and a half months of 1980 completing her Playmate of the Year shoot and making her previous movie, Galaxina, in southern California.

Dorothy Stratten convinced Snider to remain in Los Angeles after explaining that the director had decided to close the set of his new film to all but the cast and immediate crew.

On Wednesday, April 30, at a luncheon held on the grounds of the Playboy Mansion, Dorothy Stratten was presented to the assembled entertainment press as the 1980 Playmate of the Year.

The next day, Dorothy Stratten began a two-week promotional tour in Canada.

Increasingly conflicted about her marriage, Dorothy Stratten wrote to Snider from Canada asking for more freedom in their relationship.

Dorothy Stratten's tour was arranged to end in her hometown of Vancouver so Dorothy Stratten might relax for a few days with family before returning to New York.

At some point during the fight, Dorothy Stratten offered to give up her acting career and suggested the couple permanently return to Canada; however, Snider rebuffed his wife's attempt to save their marriage.

Snider had several responses to the second letter; he emptied the couples' joint bank account, he had a brief affair with an old girlfriend, and, now convinced that Dorothy Stratten was having an affair of her own with Bogdanovich, hired a private detective to gather evidence of his wife's infidelity.

Dorothy Stratten got lost and eventually gave up and went home before finding the owner's address.

Dorothy Stratten had spent the morning conferring with her business manager, and one of the topics the pair discussed was the amount of the property settlement Stratten would offer her estranged husband that afternoon.

Snider's two roommates had left in the morning, so the couple was alone when Dorothy Stratten stepped into the house that she had shared with her husband until just a few months earlier.

Dorothy Stratten's mother was told of her daughter's death at her Vancouver-area home later that morning by an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Dorothy Stratten's body was cremated and the remains interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park cemetery in Los Angeles.

Upset that what would be his only project with Dorothy Stratten did not have a nationwide release, and determined that her last screen performance have a chance to be seen by a broader audience, Bogdanovich bought the theatrical rights to the picture.

One Day Since Yesterday, a documentary about the making and cultural importance of Bogdanovich's romantic comedy, which includes interviews with the director and his remembrances of Dorothy Stratten, premiered in 2014.

The image that Hefner presented to the public as a supportive, benevolent, paternal figure to Dorothy Stratten was emphasized the following spring when Playboy published her biography in its May 1981 issue.

In 1983, film critic Vincent Canby wrote "Miss Dorothy Stratten possessed a charming screen presence and might possibly have become a first-rate comedienne with time and work".