Who was Paul Snider, Steve Banerjee’s associate who murdered wife and Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten?

The brand-new true-crime drama Welcome to Chippendales premieres new episodes on Hulu every Tuesday. The show chronicles Steve Banerjee’s ascent to fame and tragic demise as the pioneer of the first all-male striptease dance group, the Chippendales.

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The first episode of Welcome to Chippendales ends with the dead bodies of model Dorothy Stratten and her estranged husband Paul Snider lying across their bed, giving the program a dark and twisted turn. Snider is alleged to have raped, killed, and then shot himself with the same shotgun after killing Stratten, according to police reports. Notably, Snider co-founded Chippendales in 1979 with Steve Banerjee.

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Who was Paul Snider?

Paul Snider, on April 15, 1951 in Vancouver, led a life of hustling due to the circumstances of his upbringing. Snider grew up in Vancouver’s impoverished East End, where he had to fend for himself. When he was a young boy, his parents got divorced, and he left school after the seventh grade to live on his own.

He was skinny and frail, so he began working out. Snider bulked up in a year and caught the eye of the ladies. With his dashing good looks and perfectly groomed moustache, he began to frequent nightclubs. His Star of David necklace earned him the moniker “Jewish Pimp.”

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In 1977, he met Dorothy Stratten at a Dairy Queen in the Vancouver area, where she was working part-time while still in high school. He groomed her to be a model as well as his lover. Snider sent professionally photographed naked photos of Stratten to Playboy magazine in 1979, and she was chosen as a Playmate for the month of August that year. Snider and Stratten relocated to Los Angeles and married in Las Vegas on June 1.

While Snider had been involved in numerous get-rich-quick schemes, including creating and selling exercise benches, Stratten had worked as a “bunny” at the Century City Playboy Club and had been cast in a few television and film roles. Stratten assisted Snider with financial support during their short lived marriage.

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After winning Playboy’s Playmate of the Year in 1980, Stratten received a role in Peter Bogdanovich’s 1981 film They All Laughed, which marked the start of their relationship. Following that, Stratten and Snider split up, and he hired a private investigator to track her down.

Stratten was shot and killed on August 14, 1980, in the West Los Angeles home she shared with Snider, whose body was discovered next to hers. Snider was suspected of raping and murdering Stratten before killing himself.