‘Welcome to Chippendales’ Touches on the Murder-Suicide of Paul Snider and Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten
The Hulu original Welcome to Chippendales revolves around Somen “Steve” Banerjee’s creation of the world’s most successful troupe of male strippers. Steve’s dream to become successful takes a few dark turns, and one includes that of the murder of Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten by her husband, Paul Snider. Welcome to Chippendales briefly mentions the murder, but what exactly happened between the married couple? Here’s what we know about the murder-suicide of Paul Snider and Dorothy Stratten.
[WARNING: Welcome to Chippendales is based on a true story, and this article contains details about some of the events that transpired. Spoilers ahead!]
‘Welcome to Chippendales’ Episode 1 features the beginning of Paul Snider and Steve Banerjee’s relationship
When Steve Banerjee left his life of working at a gas station in Los Angeles, he planned on opening a backgammon club that would draw in celebrities from around the city. As it turned out, nobody in LA wanted to play backgammon. However, as fate would have it, one night, Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten walked in with Paul Snider. Snider claimed he worked as a successful nightclub promoter, and in Welcome to Chippendales Episode 1, Banerjee notices Snider’s Rolex and believes he holds the secret to success. He asks Snider to come on board with him and help him make something out of the backgammon club. Snider agrees to a 25% stake in the business, and the two men and Stratten, attempt to turn things around.
‘Welcome to Chippendales’ Episode 1 ends in Paul Snider and Dorothy Stratten’s deaths
After seeing male strippers at a different nightclub, Banerjee and Snider decide to transform their space into a woman’s only male strip club. It takes off after Banerjee brings on Emmy award-winning producer Nick de Noia. However, Snider balked at de Noia’s help and disliked how he flirted with Stratten so openly in front of him.
After Snider and Stratten get into a heated exchange at an exclusive restaurant, Snider barrels into Banerjee’s club, and de Noia demands to fire Snider on the spot. Banerjee agrees, and Snider’s anger grows. During the night of the first performance with de Noia’s choreography, Snider drags Stratten out into the night. The episode ends with Banerjee leaving a message on Snider’s phone about the successful night at the club. As the camera pans out, we see Snider and Stratten’s bodies splattered with blood as they both lie dead on the floor.
What really happened between Paul Snider and Dorothy Stratten that lead to her murder?
In Welcome to Chippendales, audiences watch as a man named Peter Bogdanovich pulls Stratten aside at the restaurant. He asks her to audition for a role in his upcoming film. The Hulu Original doesn’t touch on the movie again. However, in reality, Stratten did audition, and Bogdanovich cast her in a role besides Aubrey Hepburn. According to an article from the Associated Press in 1980, Snider hired a private investigator to follow Stratten around after she separated from Snider. Snider became convinced Stratten was cheating on him. When she arrived back in LA, Stratten went to the home she formerly shared with Snider to discuss finances.
According to the autopsy report obtained by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Snider shot Stratten directly in the face with a shotgun before turning it on himself. One of their roommates discovered both of their bodies in their bedroom when the private investigator couldn’t reach Snider and asked the roommate to look.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reads, “Lt. Dan Cooke said the motive was that he [Snider] ‘was despondent over the breakup of the marriage,’ but that friends of the couple were being interviewed to ‘establish the motive.'”
The first two episodes of Welcome to Chippendales are now streaming on Hulu.
