The Twisted History of Playboy Centerfolds

This week is The Twisted History of Playboy Centerfolds. Here are the notes:                                                                        

Dorothy Stratten

Like any other Playmate, 20-year-old Stratten had the looks and the charm, but her ambition to make it big in Hollywood set her apart. Nothing could come of it, however, because her life was cut short when her estranged husband, Paul Snider, shot and killed her in 1980. Snider also shot himself.

While Stratten only landed a few movie roles, she was the treasure of both filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich, with whom she had a romantic relationship with at the time of her death.
“[Playboy] thought she was going to be the biggest thing they ever had,” said Dave Wilder, Stratten’s agent, in the Pulitzer Prize-winning feature on her death by Teresa Carpenter called “Death of a Playmate.”

Carpenter personified Snider’s predisposition to kill Stratten eloquently: “One of the tacit tenets of Playboy philosophy — that women can be possessed — had found a fervent adherent in Paul Snider.” She was Playmate of the Year in 1980 – the same year she died.    

Jasmine Fiore

What Happened: Playboy Playmate Found Dead in a Suitcase, with Teeth and Fingers Missing.

Ryan Jenkins was a contestant on the VH1 reality shows "I Love Money" and "Megan Wants a Millionaire" as well as a suspect for the murder of Jasmine Fiore, a Playboy model and his ex-wife. Jasmine's was found on August 15, 2009 strangled and stuffed in a suitcase with her remains mutilated to prevent recognition.                       

Her fingers and teeth were indeed severed and all identification was removed, except for (wait for it) the serial numbers on her breast implants. A few days after the police formally charged Jenkins with murder on August 20, 2009, Jenkins hung himself in a motel room.

Jayne Mansfield

What Happened: Playboy Playmate Killed in Accident

Jayne Mansfield was one of the original blonde bombshells of Hollywood and Broadway. She was honored as Playboy Playmate of the Month and appeared nude in the magazine many times throughout her career.

She was also notoriously known to publicly expose parts of her anatomy "accidentally" in a series of publicity stunts, where she'd wear cleavage bearing dresses and purposefully lean or move a certain way as to expose her breasts.

Her career came to an end on June 28, 1967, when she, along with her boyfriend Sam Brody, driver, and children crashed into a tractor-trailer that abruptly slowed down on the road. Not only did their car hit the tractor- trailer, it also went under it, resulting in complete removal of the automobile's top as well as killing all adults riding up front.
Police photographs were captured and, when seen by the public, spawned rumors of Jayne Mansfield's decapitation.

There appeared to be a blonde-haired head tangled in the car's windshield, which was believed to be Mansfield's, but her death certification only read "crushed skull with avulsion of cranium and brain." It's believed she was either scalped, or her wig came off in the crash.

Much more on this week's episode, including a chat about the infamous Grotto at The Playboy Mansion.

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