Paul Leslie Snider (April 15, 1951–August 14, 1980) was the estranged husband of Playboy model Dorothy Stratten, whom he is suspected of killing before he himself committed suicide.
Early life with Stratten
Snider met Stratten in 1977 while Stratten was working part-time at a Dairy Queen in Vancouver, British Columbia. He promoted her by sending photos of her to Playboy. She was accepted to do photo sessions and became "Miss August 1979". The two were married in June of that year. Snider had many money-making schemes, including forming the basic idea for what would one day become the Chippendales empire. Stratten was named as Playboy’s Playmate of the Year for 1980.
Their deaths
By summer 1980 the couple had separated, and Stratten was keeping company with film director Peter Bogdanovich.
On August 13, 1980, Stratten, 20, was killed with a shotgun blast to the face in the West Los Angeles apartment the two had shared. Snider's body was found next to hers.
A coroner's report showed that Snider died after Stratten did, and so members of his family successfully petitioned a court to grant them all the assets of both Stratten and Snider, by virtue of the fact that Snider had "inherited" Stratten's estate upon her death. The court cast no judgment on whether Snider was responsible for the death of his wife.
A television film and a feature film were made from this incident. The television film Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story had Jamie Lee Curtis portraying Stratten and Bruce Weitz as Snider. Bob Fosse's 1983 feature film Star 80 was the other film that dramatized the incident. Mariel Hemingway played Stratten, and Eric Roberts, in a highly acclaimed performance, portrayed Snider.
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