In 1978, Cheryl Bradshaw participated in “The Dating Game” without realizing that the bachelor she selected, Rodney Alcala, was a serial killer. Although Bradshaw avoided any harm from her encounter with Alcala, many other women he met were not as fortunate. Alcala was convicted of murdering six women and one girl during the 1970s, but authorities believe he could be responsible for over 100 deaths.
Bradshaw’s experience with Alcala has inspired a new Netflix thriller titled “Woman of the Hour,” set to release on October 18, starring Anna Kendrick as Bradshaw and Daniel Zovatto as Alcala. The film, which is Kendrick’s directorial debut, sheds light on Alcala’s horrific crimes while also focusing on the lives of his victims.
Kendrick highlighted the disturbing research process about Alcala, expressing her frustration over how often he managed to evade justice. She aimed to capture the disbelief surrounding Alcala’s ability to avoid capture and the lack of attention given to his victims.
Rodney Alcala was a convicted murderer and sex offender with a long criminal record. Although convicted of seven murders across California and New York, he is suspected of having killed as many as 130 people. Alcala was born in San Antonio in 1943, joined the U.S. Army at 17, and later studied fine arts at UCLA while working as a typesetter for the Los Angeles Times.
His first known conviction occurred in 1968 when he abducted and assaulted an 8-year-old girl named Tali Shapiro. He fled to New York after the incident and later assumed a false identity to work as a camp counselor before being apprehended when camp attendees recognized him from an FBI wanted poster. Alcala accepted a plea deal for child molestation and registered as a sex offender.
He was ultimately convicted for multiple murders throughout the 1970s, receiving several death sentences over the years, with his final conviction taking place in 2010. Authorities tied Alcala to new cases when they discovered more than 100 photos of unidentified women and children in a storage locker. This evidence led to renewed investigations into cold cases.
Alcala appeared on “The Dating Game” in 1978, where he was presented as a “successful photographer” with interests in skydiving and motorcycling. During the show, Bradshaw found him unsettling and later refused to go on a date with him, despite initially selecting him.
Rodney Alcala passed away from natural causes on July 24, 2021, at age 77 while on death row, having been implicated in numerous other murders across several states.