Editing Dorothy Stratten (section)

===March 1980 – July 1980===
On March 22, 1980, Stratten flew to [[New York City]] to begin work on what became her last film project, ''[[They All Laughed]]'' (1981), a romantic comedy being directed by [[Peter Bogdanovich]].<ref name="bogdanovich">{{cite book|last = Bogdanovich|first= Peter|title = The Killing of the Unicorn: Dorothy Stratten 1960-1980|location= New York, NY|publisher = William Morrow and Company|date = 1984|isbn= 0-688-01611-1|page= 71|url-access = registration |url=https://archive.org/details/killingofunicor00bogd/page/151}}</ref> This would be Stratten's fifth movie in a career that had only begun the year before and represented her first substantial role in a big-budget picture, playing the unhappily-married love interest of [[John Ritter]], one of the film's stars.{{efn|Coincidentally, Ritter had played a lead role in Stratten's first movie, the comedy ''[[Americathon]]'' (1979), although the two had no scenes together.}} Bogdanovich, who also wrote the screenplay, said in an interview that he had based the backstory of Stratten's character on what he had learned about her marriage to Snider.<ref name="dvd interview">{{cite AV media
 | people = Bogdanovich, Peter; Anderson, Wes (Interviewer)
 | date = 2006
 | title = They All Laughed 25 Years Later: Director to Director - A Conversation with Peter Bogdanovich and Wes Anderson
 | type = DVD
 | publisher = Home Box Office
}}</ref> Stratten and Bogdanovich began an affair during the production.<ref name="carpenter"/>

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]]. With all her work close to home, Snider assumed the role of his wife's chauffeur, as well as her ersatz manager and acting coach. However, Snider's near-constant presence, as well as his criticism of and almost daily arguments with his wife, caused Stratten so much stress that her co-workers at ''Playboy'' and the ''Galaxina'' set took notice of the tension in the relationship. As the spring of 1980 approached, Snider insisted on accompanying his wife to New York for the shoot for ''They All Laughed'', but Stratten recognized the problems he could cause on set and wanted the freedom to pursue her relationship with Bogdanovich. 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.<ref name="carpenter"/> Stratten and Bogdanovich consummated their affair on the day after her arrival in New York.{{sfn|Bogdanovich|1984|p=74}}

In April, Stratten briefly returned to California to prepare for her upcoming introduction as the new Playmate of the Year and follow-on publicity tour.<ref name="rhodes">{{cite magazine| last1= Rhodes| first1= Richard| date= May 1981| others= Based in part on the research of John Riley and Laura Bernstein| title= Dorothy Stratten: Her Story| magazine= [[Playboy]]| location= Chicago, IL| volume= 28| issue= 5| issn= 0032-1478| page= 222}}</ref> With several months of filming left to be completed in New York, this was the last time that she would live with Snider in their Los Angeles–area home.
[[File:Dorothy Stratten - Syracuse Herald-Journal (1980).jpg|thumb|upright|Newspaper clipping, April 30, 1980]]

On Wednesday, April 30, at a luncheon held on the grounds of the Playboy Mansion, Stratten was presented to the assembled entertainment press as the 1980 Playmate of the Year.{{sfn|Rhodes|1981|p=224}} In his introductory remarks, Hefner noted that Stratten was from Canada and had received $200,000 in cash and gifts in addition to the title. In a fleeting comment, he also acknowledged the effect that Stratten's charming combination of beauty, intelligence, and sensitivity had on many who knew her when he said, "...and she is something rather special. They always are, but Dorothy is really quite unique." After taking the lectern, Stratten thanked [[Mario Casilli]], the photographer who shot both her Playmate of the Month and Year pictorials, several Playboy executives, and finally Hefner, whom she declared "has made me probably the happiest girl in the world today."<ref name="playboy video">{{cite AV media
 | date = 1983
 | title = Playboy Video Magazine Vol. 4
 | type = VHS
 | publisher = CBS/Fox Video
}}</ref> Later that evening, Stratten appeared as a guest on [[NBC]]'s ''[[The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson]]''.<ref name="carpenter"/>

The next day, Stratten began a two-week promotional tour in Canada. Having no events scheduled over the first weekend, she flew to New York on a whim to surprise Bogdanovich. Increasingly conflicted about her marriage, Stratten wrote to Snider from Canada asking for more freedom in their relationship. With his wife beyond his immediate control and fearing the worst, Snider telephoned from Los Angeles in response and flew into a rage when Stratten answered. Stratten's tour was arranged to end in her hometown of Vancouver so Stratten might relax for a few days with family before returning to New York. However, Snider appeared in Vancouver at the last minute and coerced her into spending some of her brief vacation making personal appearances at several local nightclubs. Since Snider knew many of the club owners, he personally negotiated and collected Stratten's appearance fees and then pocketed the entire sum when she returned to New York.{{sfn|Rhodes|1981|p=224}} During this time, it was reported that Stratten and Snider had a particularly heated argument. At some point during the fight, 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.<ref name="carpenter"/>

In the days and weeks after Snider returned to Los Angeles, he found it increasingly difficult to get in touch with Stratten. In late June, just a few weeks after their first wedding anniversary, Snider received another letter from Stratten, this one announcing that they were now physically and financially [[marital separation|separated]]. Snider had several responses to the second letter; he emptied the couple's joint bank account, he had a brief affair with an old girlfriend, and, now convinced that Stratten was having an affair of her own with Bogdanovich, hired a [[private detective]] to gather evidence of his wife's infidelity.{{sfn|Rhodes|1981|p=224-6}}

As a foreign national living in the U.S. without a [[green card]] that would allow him to hold a job and having no other source of regular income, Snider relied on Stratten, now through her business manager, to pay the monthly household bills. Little was left over for extravagances, such as the expenses incurred by a private detective working a case 3,000 miles from home. Therefore, over the summer of 1980, Snider began selling Stratten's Playmate of the Year prizes at a loss for quick cash, the most notable example being a [[Jaguar (automobile)|Jaguar]] sportscar that ''Playboy'' had valued at $26,000.{{sfn|Rhodes|1981|p=233}}<ref name="jaguar">{{cite magazine
 | date= June 1980
 | title= Gifts Fit for a Queen
 | magazine= [[Playboy]]
 | location= Chicago, IL
 | volume= 27
 | issue= 6
 | issn= 0032-1478 
 | page= 221
}}</ref>

By mid-July, principal photography on ''They All Laughed'' was completed and the New York production wrapped.{{sfn|Rhodes|1981|p=226}} On Wednesday, July 30, Stratten and Bogdanovich returned to Los Angeles after having spent a ten-day holiday together in England. Stratten's official Los Angeles residence was now at the address of a newly rented [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]] apartment, but in actuality she had quietly moved into Bogdanovich's mansion in [[Bel Air, California|Bel Air]].<ref name="carpenter"/>