Updated 2 years ago
July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022
Sebian/American Director
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/06/entertainment/peter-bogdanovich-obituary/index.html
Some are more interesting for their fall, than their rise.
Such is Peter Bogdanavich‘s epic fall from grace, from directing the Last Picture Show and Ryan O’Neal and Barbara Streisand in What’s Up Doc, to a series of increasingly bad films a la Orson Welles, with whom he is often compared.
Like Roman Polanski, he became corrupted with his directorial power and acclaim. He had a bad habit of lechering onto women he directed, such as Cybill Shepherd, but what made him a Greek tragic figure was when he fell in love and started dating another actress he was directing, Dorothy Stratten, a Dutch Canadian Playboy playmate. Some Gen Xers may remember her in Galaxina:
She had a loser pimp boyfriend (think James Woods in Casino):
…who had picked her up when she was working at a Dairy Queen, and who, when he found out she was dating Bogdanovich, killed her in a jealous rage.
Bogdanovich was emotionally destroyed. To find solace, he then married her little sister, which further obliterated his rep in Hollywood.
His story itself is pretty gripping. Bob Fosse made a passable film about all this, Star 80 with Dorothy played by Mariel Hemingway:
Bogdanovich was kept around as a jovial commenter and reviewer. People loved him in that role. He most recently played Lorraine Bracco’s psychologist in the Sopranos.
Further reading
https://allthatsinteresting.com/paul-snider
https://people.com/crime/dorothy-stratten-murder-playboy-model/
https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/features/a12500777/dorothy-stratten-hugh-hefner-playboy-playmate/
