The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

When Bunnies Go Bad: 1968 Playmate of the Year Faces Prison for Shooting

Posted on | December 13, 2010 | 25 Comments

She was known as Angela Dorian, but her real name was Victoria Vetri and she was what you’d call a starlet. Beginning at age 19, she appeared in a number of small roles on TV series — Cheyenne, Wagon Train, McHale’s Navy, Bonanza, Perry Mason, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. — prior to becoming the 1967 Miss September in Playboy magazine. She was subsequently named 1968 Playmate of the Year.

After her Playboy appeareance, she had a part in Rosemary’s Baby (1968), and also appeared in other TV series, including Hogan’s Heroes, Star Trek and Batman. Her biggest part, it seems, was in the genuinely wretched 1970 movie When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth, where the director apparently contrived to have Vetri as naked as possible as often as possible. Here is a video clip from that movie, parts of which are NSFW and all of which is incredibly stupid:

As bad as that was, it was nonetheless the pinnacle of Vetri’s acting career. Her last film credit was in an unspeakably bad 1973 movie called Invasion of the Bee Girls. But she resurfaced in October when, at age 68 and now known as Victoria Rathgeb, she was arrested and charged with attempted murder after shooting her husband, Bruce Rathgeb:

68-year-old Angela Dorian is still in custody for attempting to murder her husband Bruce after an intense argument in their Hollywood apartment on October 16. Bruce tells us . . . he had packed up his stuff and was heading for the elevator when she opened fire from behind.
Bruce tells us, “When she shot me, she walked away with no emotion … she didn’t give a s**t.”
Bruce . . . explains, “I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve this … I loved her for nearly 25 years.”
He adds, “A divorce would have been sufficient, not a bullet.”

Bruce Rathgeb developed an infection and was rushed to the hospital today. Meanwhile, TMZ reports today that the gun Victoria allegedly used to shoot her husband was a .380 Walther PPK which had been given to her by Roman Polanski.

Recall that Polanski’s wife Sharon Tate had starred in Rosemary’s Baby, in which Vetri also had a part. The two actresses became friends and, after Tate was killed by the Manson gang, Polanski gave Vetri the pistol to protect herself.

All of which is just a bunch of show biz trivia, but this is the kind of celebrity news you’ll find at WeSmirch on a slow Monday. And it was a pretty good excuse to use these photos of the 1968 Playmate of the Year.

Category: Celebrities, Crime, Rule 5

Comments

Comments are closed.