Death of a Centerfold

Playmate of the Month, movie deals, a luxurious life in L.A.'s ritziest enclaves: That's a lot to handle for Dorothy Stratten, who little more than a year before was a 17-year-old working in an ice cream shop. It's even more to handle for Paul Snider, the ambitious wheeler-dealer who discovers her, puts her on a path of fame and fortune and takes it all away from her in a brutal moment of jealousy and rage. Jamie Lee Curtis portrays the centerfold sensation, torn by her sense of obligation to Snider (whom Stratten married) yet growing up fast in the whirl of success and opportunity surrounding her. And future Hill Street Blues Emmy winner Bruce Weitz plays the dangerous man who ultimately couldn't have Stratten. So neither would anyone else.

• crime
• drama