{"id":67515,"date":"2022-11-23T00:53:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-23T00:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=67515"},"modified":"2022-11-23T00:55:48","modified_gmt":"2022-11-23T00:55:48","slug":"tragic-story-of-playboy-playmate-dorothy-stratten","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/tragic-story-of-playboy-playmate-dorothy-stratten\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tragic Story of Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten from Hulu’s ‘Welcome to Chippendales’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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(L) Dorothy Stratten (Getty), (R) Nicola Peltz Beckham as Dorothy Stratten in Welcome to Chippendale’s (Courtesy of Hulu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Content warning: This article contains mentions of grooming, abusive relationships, rape and violence.<\/em><\/p>\n

There’s a new must-watch series debuting today, Nov. 22, on Hulu that centers around the true-crime drama of the male revue Chippendales. Welcome to Chippendales\u00a0<\/em>follows the journey of its founder, Indian immigrant Somen \u201cSteve\u201d Banerjee (portrayed by Kumail Nanjiani) as he becomes the unlikely founder of a male strip joint that transforms into a cultural phenomenon. Along the way, he encounters others that have gone down in history too, like\u00a0Playboy<\/a> Playmate Dorothy Stratten (played by Nicola Peltz Beckham)<\/a> whose life and career ended abruptly and tragically.<\/p>\n

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Nicola Peltz Beckham as Dorothy Stratten in Welcome to Chippendales<\/em> (Hulu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On August 14, 1980, Stratten (n\u00e9e Dorothy Hoogstraten) died at 20 years old after she was raped, tortured and murdered by her estranged husband Paul Snider, who then committed suicide. The Canadian Playmate first met Snider (who was nine years her senior) when she was a teenager working at Dairy Queen. After \u201cwooing\u201d and grooming the teen, the club promoter and emcee brought Stratten to Los Angeles. To put her on Hugh Hefner\u2019s radar, Snider convinced Stratten to pose for nude photos which he later sent to Playboy<\/em> for consideration. On June 1, 1979, Snider and Stratten married.<\/p>\n

In Teresa Carpenter\u2019s 1981 Pulitzer Prize-winning article in The Village Voice<\/em>, \u201cDeath of a Playmate,\u201d Hefner told the journalist he saw himself as a \u201cfather figure\u201d to Stratten, and that he expressed reservations when she told him of Snider\u2019s proposal. \u201cI said to her that he had a \u2018pimp-like quality\u2019 about him,\u201d the Playboy<\/em> mogul told Carpenter.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Original Caption) 8\/15\/1980-Los Angeles: Playboy Magazine’s 1980 Playmate of the Year, Dorothy Stratten, 20, is shown in file photo with her husband, Paul Sneider, as they celebrated her 20th birthday at their West Los Angeles home. Stratten was shotgunned to death late 8\/14 in the same West Los Angeles Home, apparently by her husband, who then committed suicide. The couple had been separated for several months. UPI bf\/file<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dubbed Playboy Playmate of the Month in August 1979, Stratten was named Playmate of the Year in 1980. Rising to meteoric success, Stratten reached beyond the bounds of the Playboy Mansion, acting in projects from Galaxina<\/em>, to They All Laughed<\/em> and Autumn Born<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn his [Snider\u2019s] mind, Dorothy was his rocket ship to the moon,\u201d said Snider\u2019s former roommate Dr. Stephen Cushner in the A&E<\/em> docuseries Secrets of the Chippendales Murders<\/em>, released earlier this year.<\/p>\n

When Banerjee was rebranding his upscale club, Snider approached him with the idea of male strippers. It was Stratten who proposed the male dancers should wear cuffs and collars, referencing what the Bunnies wore at the Playboy Club.<\/p>\n

After proving to be an inadequate emcee at Chippendales, Banerjee was forced to let Snider go, sparking a feeling of betrayal in the promoter for using his idea.<\/p>\n

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American pornographer Hugh Hefner and murdered Playboy PLaymate Dorothy Stratten (1960 – 1980), 1980. She holds a plaque naming her 1980 Playmate of the Year. (Photo By Julian Wasser\/Online USA Inc.\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cShe was a Goddess, and she was with this sleaze bag,\u201d former Chippendales creative director Eric Gilbert recalled in the A&E<\/em> series.<\/p>\n

One year before the horrific murder-suicide, Snider was reportedly<\/a> arrested in Vancouver for selling drugs and pimping.\u00a0In A&E<\/em>\u2019s Secrets of Playboy<\/em> docuseries, former Playmate and director of brand promotions Miki Garcia claims to have sent Hefner a memo regarding the arrest but it allegedly didn’t lead to action by the Playboy<\/em> founder. \u201cI wanted to warn Hef that Dorothy Stratten was with a very dangerous man,\u201d said Garcia.<\/p>\n

Stratten and Snider separated two months prior to the tragedy, with friends of the couple telling police Snider had been especially distraught over the separation. Snider shot and killed Stratten before turning the gun on himself.<\/p>\n

This fall, Peltz Beckham posed for GRAZIA USA<\/em>‘s cover story and shared what it was like portraying the Playmate.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve been a fan of Dorothy\u2019s for so long and her story is so heartbreaking,\u201d Peltz Beckham told GRAZIA USA<\/em><\/a>. \u201cI actually watched\u00a0Star 80<\/em> when I was younger and her story suck in my mind for so many years. When I got the audition, I was just really excited. I hope people like my performance. I wanted to honor Dorothy because I love her so much.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31863,"featured_media":67989,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[38,16,3925],"yoast_head":"\nWho Was Playboy's Dorothy Stratten from Welcome to Chippendales?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nicola Peltz Beckham stars as Playboy model Dorothy Stratten in Hulu\u2019s Welcome to Chippendales \u2014 learn more about the Playmate here\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/tragic-story-of-playboy-playmate-dorothy-stratten\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Tragic Story of Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten from Hulu's 'Welcome to Chippendales'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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