Description

This week, we take a turn from Bogdanovich and check in on his cinematic analogs with Bob Fosse’s final film, Star 80. Fosse takes on Dorothy Stratten’s rise to stardom, meeting and falling in love with Bogdanovich (or, according to the film, “Aram Nicholas”), and the tragic murder at the hands of her husband. 

We also discuss the atrocious television movie version starring Jamie Lee Curtis, how to spot a Bogdanovich analog if he isn’t wearing a bandana, Robert Redford’s final film choices, the legacy of the Jackass franchise, and why Peter got really into making calendars based on trees. 

Further “Reading”

• Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story (1981)
• By Bogdanovich (2011)
• One Day Since Yesterday: Peter Bogdanovich & the Lost American Film (2014)
• 20/20: Death of Playmate Pt. 1 (Full episode available on Hulu)
• Picture Shows: The Life and Films of Peter Bogdanovich by Andrew Yule
• Picturing Peter Bogdanovich by Peter Tonguette
• The Killing of the Unicorn by Peter Bogdanovich
• Star 80 DVD listing
• Star 80 AFI Catalog
• “Death of a Playmate” by Teresa Carpenter for the Village Voice, November 1980
• “Star 80, A Sex-Symbol's Life and Death” by Vincent Canby for the New York Times (November 10, 1983)
• Star 80 by Roger Ebert (November 10, 1983)
• “Mariel Hemingway: Bob Fosse ‘Literally Chased Me Around a Couch’” by Emily Tess Katz for Huffpost (April 9, 2015)
• “Eric Roberts Says Bob Fosse Made Him Spend the Night in the Real ‘Star 80’ Murder Apartment” by Seth Abramovitch (April 20, 2026)

THE BOGDANOVICH ARCHIVE

Theme music by Ryan (twitter.com/molecularlioneI)

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