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Former Playmate of the Year enters not guilty plea

By Swetha Iyengar, In Session
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Rathgeb, 66, was Playmate of the Year in 1968
  • She entered a plea of not guilty to a charge of attempted murder
  • She faces another hearing November 1

(CNN) -- A former Playboy Playmate of the Year remained in custody in Los Angeles, California, Thursday after being arraigned in the alleged shooting of her husband.

Victoria Rathgeb, 66, entered a plea of not guilty when she was arraigned on a charge of attempted murder in a courtroom Tuesday.

Rathgeb is charged with trying to kill her husband, Bruce Rathgeb, according to a Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office.

Bruce Rathgeb remains hospitalized at Cedars Sinai Hospital.

According to the entertainment website, TMZ, the shooting happened at the couple's West Hollywood apartment, and when officers first arrived at the scene Rathgeb allegedly told them that it was a drug dealer who shot her husband.

Morales told CNN that Rathgeb is being held in lieu of a $1.5 million bond and has a preliminary hearing on November 1.

She was represented by a public defender at the arraignment. If convicted, Rathgeb faces life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Los Angeles police confirmed Rathgeb was arrested on October 16 for allegedly shooting her husband, but said they would not comment further because of the ongoing investigation. According to the L.A. Sheriff's Department, Rathgeb is being held at the Century Regional Detention Facility.

Rathgeb was Playboy's 1968 Playmate of the Year, under the name Angela Dorian. She also went by the name Victoria Vetri and had a small part in the movie "Rosemary's Baby." Rathgeb also had roles in popular television shows from the 1960s and 1970s such as "Hogan's Heroes," and "Star Trek."

Author and Film Historian, Tom Lisanti profiled Rathgeb for his book, "Glamour Girls of Sixties Hollywood."

"Her real name is Victoria Vetri and she went by the stage name, Angela Dorian, and she was actually considered a pretty good actress and got a lot of television roles. Because of her Italian heritage, she played mostly ethnic characters."

According to Lisanti, Rathgeb's popularity heightened when she played the part of Mia Farrow's neighbor in Roman Polanski's film, "Rosemary's Baby."

"It was Polanski who told her to use her real name and actually had a line in the movie where Mia Farrow says, 'I thought you were Victoria Vetri, the actress,' and it was sort of a joke because, of course she was Victoria Vetri."

According to Lisanti, the early '60s were a difficult time for actresses because by the middle of the decade studio contracts were collapsing and independent movies like "Bonnie and Clyde" and "The Graduate" were starting.

"There was also this introduction of nudity in films that were becoming really popular and these were women, who were raised in the Eisenhower '50s -- so, they lost a lot of roles because they wouldn't go topless. Obviously Victoria wasn't one of those women -- and so she started as a serious actress and then switched to becoming a sex symbol.

"Her biggest role was in a movie called, 'When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth,' and she was, like a lot of actresses at that time, trying to emulate Raquel Welch in 'One Million Years B.C.' but she never achieved that level of fame."

Rathgeb quietly left acting in late 1970s and went back to doing that age old job of out-of-work actresses -- waitressing, he said.