Paul Snider

Paul Leslie Snider (April 15, 1951 – August 14, 1980) was a criminal Canadian nightclub promoter and pimp who murdered his estranged wife, Playboy model and actress Dorothy Stratten. After the murder, Snider killed himself.

Biography Snider was born in Vancouver to a Jewish family. By the mid-1970s he was a nightclub promoter and pimp.

While Stratten worked as a "bunny" at the Century City Playboy 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 Playboys Playmate of the Year and was cast in the movie They All Laughed (1981) directed by Peter Bogdanovich, with whom she began an affair. Stratten and Snider separated and he hired a private investigator to follow her.

Murder of Stratten and death On August 13, 1980 the second anniversary of Stratten's first arrival in Los Angeles Snider bought a used 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun from a private seller he found in a local classified ad. Snider made several morbid remarks to his companions related to the problems at Playboy magazine caused by Jennings' death, including a comment about how the editors would pull nude photos of a dead Playmate from the next issue if there was time.

Stratten arrived for her meeting with Snider at his rented West Los Angeles house at approximately noon on Thursday, August 14.

By 8:00 that evening, both of the roommates had returned to the house. They saw Stratten's car parked out front and noted that Snider's bedroom door was closed.

Snider's remains are buried at Schara Tzedeck Cemetery in New Westminster, 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 as Stratten and Bruce Weitz as Snider. Bob Fosse's film Star 80 (1983) dramatized Stratten's life and death. Mariel Hemingway played Stratten, and Eric Roberts portrayed Snider. In the series Welcome to Chippendales, he was played by Dan Stevens.