Paul Leslie Snider (April 15, 1951 – August 14, 1980) was a criminal Canadian nightclub promoter and pimp who murdered his estranged wife, ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' model and actress Dorothy Stratten. Following her murder, Snider killed himself.

Biography

Snider was born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. By the mid-1970s, he was a nightclub promoter and

pimp Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term "pimp" ...

. In 1977, he met Dorothy Stratten at a Vancouver-area

Dairy Queen International Dairy Queen, Inc. (DQ) is an American multinational fast food chain founded in 1940 and currently headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. The first Dairy Queen was owned and operated by Sherb Noble and first opened on June 22, ...

, where she was working part-time while still attending high school. In 1979, Snider sent professionally taken nude photographs of Stratten to ''

'' magazine and she was chosen as a Playmate for the month of August that year. Snider and Stratten moved to Los Angeles and married on June 1 in Las Vegas. While Stratten worked as a " bunny" at the

Century City Century City is a 176-acre (71.2 ha) neighborhood and business district in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located on the Westside to the south of Santa Monica Boulevard around 10 miles (16 km) west of downtown Los Angeles, Cent ...

Playboy Club The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club ...

, and was cast in a few television and film roles, Snider had engaged in numerous get-rich-quick schemes, including building and selling exercise benches. Stratten supported Snider financially throughout their short marriage. In 1980, Stratten was named ''Playboy''s Playmate of the Year and was cast in the movie ''

They All Laughed ''They All Laughed'' is a 1981 American romantic comedy film directed by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Ben Gazzara, Audrey Hepburn, John Ritter, Colleen Camp, Patti Hansen, and Dorothy Stratten. The film was based on a screenplay by Bogdanov ...

'' (1981) directed by

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. He started out his career as a young actor studying under Stella Adler before working as a film critic for ''Fi ...

, with whom she began an affair. Stratten and Snider separated and he hired a private investigator to follow her.

Death

On August 14, 1980, Dorothy Stratten was shot and killed in the West Los Angeles house she had shared with Snider, whose body was found next to hers. Police believed Snider raped and murdered Stratten, and then killed himself with the same shotgun. Snider's remains are buried at Schara Tzedeck Cemetery in

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

, British Columbia.

In popular culture

Snider has been portrayed in three films. The first was a made-for-television movie about the murder titled '' Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story'' (1981), which starred

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, and children's author. Known for List of Jamie Lee Curtis performances, her performances in the horror and slasher film, slasher genres, she is regarded as a scream qu ...

as Stratten and Bruce Weitz as Snider.

Bob Fosse Robert Louis Fosse (; June 23, 1927 – September 23, 1987) was an American choreographer, dancer, filmmaker, and stage director. Known for his work on stage and screen, he is arguably the most influential figure in the field of jazz dance in th ...

's film ''

Star 80 ''Star 80'' is a 1983 American biographical drama film written and directed by Bob Fosse. It was adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' Village Voice'' article "Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter and is based on Canadian ''Playboy'' ...

'' (1983) dramatized Stratten's life and death. Mariel Hemingway played Stratten, and

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. He has amassed more than 700 film and television credits since his debut in 1978, making him one of the most prolific English-speaking screen actors of all time. Roberts' career ...

portrayed Snider. In the series ''

Welcome to Chippendales ''Welcome to Chippendales'' is an American biographical drama television miniseries created by Robert Siegel inspired by the book ''Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders'' by K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca. It stars Kumail Nanjian ...

'', he was played by

Dan Stevens Daniel Jonathan Stevens (born 10 October 1982) is an English actor. He first drew international attention for his role as Matthew Crawley in the ITV period drama series ''Downton Abbey'' (2010–2012). He also starred as David in the thriller ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Snider, Paul 1951 births 1980 deaths 1980 murders in the United States 1980 suicides 20th-century Canadian criminals Canadian Jews Canadian rapists Canadian male criminals Canadian murderers Crime in California Deaths by firearm in California Domestic violence in the United States Male murder–suicide perpetrators Murder–suicides in California People from Vancouver Suicides by firearm in California Violence against women in the United States