Victoria Vetri (born September 26, 1944; also known as Angela Dorian and Victoria Rathgeb) is an American model and

actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a Character (arts), character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek ...

Early life and education

Vetri was born in the

Queen of Angels Hospital The Queen of Angels Hospital was a private hospital complex located at 2301 Bellevue Avenue in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The 404-bed hospital was founded in 1926 by the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart and built b ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California, to Italian immigrant parents. She attended

Hollywood High School Hollywood High School is a four-year public secondary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, located at the intersection of North Highland Avenue and West Sunset Boulevard in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California. Histo ...

between 1959-63 and later studied art at

Los Angeles City College Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus ...

. She began acting and modeling in her teens.

Career

Television and films

While Vetri was in high school director

Robert Wise Robert Earl Wise (September 10, 1914 – September 14, 2005) was an American film director, producer, and editor. He won the Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture for his musical films ''West Side Story'' (1961) and ''The Sound of ...

considered casting her as Maria in the 1961 film ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid-1 ...

'', but the studio selected

Natalie Wood Natalie Wood ( Zacharenko; July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981) was an American actress who began her career in film as a child and successfully transitioned to young adult roles. Wood started acting at age four and was given a co-starring r ...

. In her early career Vetri often was cast in ethnic roles on television "due to her Italian heritage", such as a Native American in ''

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

'' and a Mexican in ''

Wagon Train ''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...

''. She also landed ethnic roles in film, including a member of an ancient

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () of the Mesoamerican people is known by its ancient temples and glyphs. Its Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writing system in the pre-Columbian Americas. It is also noted for its art, archit ...

in the 1963 film ''

Kings of the Sun ''Kings of the Sun'' is a 1963 DeLuxe Color film directed by J. Lee Thompson for Mirisch Productions set in Mesoamerica at the time of the conquest of Chichen Itza by Hunac Ceel. Location scenes filmed in Mazatlán and Chichen Itza. The film mark ...

'' and a Mexican in the 1967 film '' Chuka''. Vetri appeared briefly in the 1968 film '' Rosemary's Baby'', where she was credited as Angela Dorian. In one scene, Rosemary (

Mia Farrow Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...

) remarks to Vetri's character, Teresa, that she resembles the actress Victoria Vetri. In January 1969, Vetri signed a multi-picture contract with

Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, Inc. was a short-lived American entertainment company active from 1967 until 1969. History Seven Arts Productions acquired Jack L. Warner's controlling interest in Warner Bros. Pictures for $32 million in November 19 ...

and was given a starring role in ''

When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth'' (titled ''When Dinosaurs Ruled the World'' in the U.K.) is a 1970 British prehistoric dinosaur film from Hammer Films, written and directed by Val Guest, and starring Victoria Vetri. It was produced by Aida Yo ...

''. She refused to have her hair turned blonde from its natural auburn for the film. The story required a blonde, so Vetri demanded a wig instead. Columnist

Hy Gardner Hy Gardner (December 2, 1908 – June 17, 1989) was an American entertainment reporter and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Herald Tribune'', host of ''Hy Gardner Calling'', ''The Hy Gardner Show'', and ''Celebrity Party'', and an orig ...

nominated Vetri as "a new sex symbol on the Hollywood horizon" in 1971. In 2018, Vetri reportedly claimed she plans to return to acting.

''Star Trek''

Vetri has been incorrectly identified in numerous sources as playing the role of the "human form of a shape-shifting cat" in the ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

'' episode " Assignment: Earth" (a role actually played by April Tatro). Vetri emphatically states she never appeared on ''Star Trek'', saying, "I was never in an episode of ''STAR TREK''. I know that people think I was ..I am not sure who she was. Look close enough and you can see that she has blue eyes and I, of course, have brown."

''Playboy''

Using the name Angela Dorian, Vetri was ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

''s

Playmate of the Month A Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month (PMOTM). The PMOTM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, along with a pictorial biography and the "Playm ...

for the September 1967 issue and subsequently was the 1968 Playmate of the Year. Vetri won $20,000 and a new car (an all pink 1968

AMC AMX The AMC AMX is a two-seat GT-style muscle car produced by American Motors Corporation from 1968 through 1970. As one of just two American-built two-seaters, the AMX was in direct competition with the one-inch (2.5 cm) longer wheelbase Che ...

) when she was selected Playmate of the Year. A nude photo of her (along with fellow playmates

Leslie Bianchini The following women have appeared in the American or international edition of ''Playboy'' magazine as Playmate of the Month. Those who were also named Playmate of the Year are highlighted in green. A common misconception is that Marilyn Monroe was ...

Reagan Wilson Reagan Diana Wilson (born March 6, 1947) is an American model and actress who was ''Playboy'' magazine's Playmate of the Month for its October 1967 issue. Her centerfold was photographed by Ron Vogel. Early life Wilson was born in Torrance, Cali ...

, and

Cynthia Myers Cynthia Jeanette Myers (September 12, 1950 – November 4, 2011) was an American model, actress, and ''Playboy'' magazine's Playboy Playmate, Playmate of the Month for the December 1968 issue. Career Myers was the first ''Playboy'' Playmate born ...

) was inserted into

Apollo 12 Apollo 12 (November 14–24, 1969) was the sixth crewed flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon. It was launched on November 14, 1969, by NASA from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Commander Pete Conra ...

Extra-vehicular activity Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmental support. EVA inc ...

astronaut cuff checklists by pranksters at

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

. Thinking it would give her the pick of acting roles, Vetri took on modelling for Playboy. However, she said that posing actually hindered her career by limiting the roles she was offered. She felt she was typecast because of her beauty. Vetri posed topless for the April 1984 ''Playboy'' pictorial ''Playmates Forever! Part Two''. In

Tom Clancy Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...

's 2004 biography of Gen.

Tony Zinni Anthony Charles Zinni (born September 17, 1943) is a former United States Marine Corps general and a former Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM). From 2001 to 2003, he served as a special envoy for the United States t ...

, USMC (Ret.), Zinni remarks on receiving a copy of the September 1967 ''Playboy'' centerfold from his advisers for his birthday, which he kept as a memento of his time in

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

Personal life

Vetri, aged 18, married Hugh Terry Whettam on April 7, 1963. Their son was born on September 8, 1963. They were divorced in 1966. She then married John Lee Hage on December 29, 1966, and they were divorced in 1967. Vetri married Heinz Gottfried Schwetz on November 13, 1978 and they were divorced on February 25, 1983. In 1986, she and Bruce Rathgeb were married. Vetri was charged with attempted murder after shooting husband Bruce Rathgeb from close range inside the Hollywood apartment they were sharing after an argument on Saturday, October 16, 2010. The

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

's Hollywood Division arrested Vetri. She was jailed on US$1.53 million bail. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael D. Abzug refused to reduce it, pending trial. In January 2011, the judge also denied her attorney's request for a reduction of the charge of attempted murder. She was ordered to stand trial on that charge. Between January and September 2011, the charge against Vetri was reduced to attempted voluntary manslaughter. She entered a plea of no contest. The judge sentenced her to nine years in state prison. She and Rathgeb divorced in 2016. She was released on parole in April 2018, aged 73. (registration required)

Filmography

Film

Television

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vetri, Victoria 1944 births American film actresses American people of Italian descent Living people Actresses from San Francisco 1960s Playboy Playmates Playboy Playmates of the Year Los Angeles City College alumni 20th-century American actresses American television actresses People convicted of attempted voluntary manslaughter 21st-century American women