Playmate of the Year? Are you sure?" Dorothy Stratten asked in disbelief when we told her the good news, that out of 12 terrific gatefold girls, she had been chosen by PLAYBOY's editors to be the Eighties' first Playmate of the Year. Even after we reassured her that it was, indeed, true, the reality of it still did not quite sink in. But then, ever since she graced our gatefold last August, Dorothy has been living in what can best be described as a Hollywood fairy tale, so she's no stranger to feelings of disbelief. Her career as an actress, a career that began only one short year ago, has proceeded with the velocity of a whirlwind and put the name Dorothy Stratten in solid position as one of the few emerging film goddesses of the new decade. In Hollywood, where countless thousands of aspiring actresses compete for even the smallest of roles, Dorothy has, in a short time, amassed a list of credits that sounds as if she's been hoofing the pavement for at least ten years. A few excerpts from the scenario: Fade in to Vancouver, (text concluded on page 227)Playmate of the Year(continued from page 170) British Columbia. Intrepid PLAYBOY photographers, searching for a 25th-anniversary Playmate, discover Dorothy Stratten and invite her to fly to Los Angeles for test shots. ("Believe it or not," she told us, "I'd never been on a plane before.") In L.A., she quickly becomes a top finalist in the anniversary Playmate competition--and lands a job as a Bunny at the Century City Playboy Club, quickly followed by a part in the film Americathon, in which she plays a Bunny. Candy Loving, who in the intervening weeks has become a close friend of Dorothy's, is chosen 25th-anniversary Playmate; Dorothy gets the nod as Miss August. By now, she has already secured a part in the film Skatetown, U.S.A., a small speaking role in which she keeps trying to order a pizza, but, in her own words, "the pizza maker keeps hitting on me. It's a continuous scene that runs throughout the film." A small role, perhaps, but big enough for Dorothy to catch the eye of several producers, one of whom signs her to star in the Canadian film Autumn Born, to be released shortly north of the border. Hollywood takes notice and soon Dorothy is hired to appear in an episode of Fantasy Island. Following that, she is a guest star in a segment of the TV series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, playing the part of Miss Cosmos, winner of a contest to discover "the most beautiful woman in the universe." Her name appears, for the first time, in TV Guide. ("Seeing my name in TV Guide," says Dorothy, "was the most exciting thing in my life. It suddenly made all this seem real. When I watch myself on the screen or on TV, it's always so hard for me to believe that it's really me.") Cut to January 1980: Dorothy is signed for the title role in her first American feature film, Galaxina--a space comedy costarring Stephen Macht, Avery Schreiber and James David Hinton. She plays a robot named Galaxina, described as the most perfect robot ever constructed. Hollywood Reporter columnist Hank Grant mentions Dorothy when she has her license plates changed to read GAL X INA.
As many observers have noted, Dorothy dazzles people, on or off the screen. Just to give you an example of what we mean, early last winter, Richard Dawson appeared on The Tonight Show, shortly after having hosted the ABC-TV special The Playboy Roller Disco and Pajama Party--which featured a large crop of Playmates, including Dorothy. In the course of The Tonight Show, Dawson was asked what he wanted most for Christmas. He didn't hesitate for a moment: "Dorothy."
