The ‘Dating Game’ Killer: The True Story Behind ‘Woman of the Hour’

Woman of the Hour, Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut in which she also stars, just hit Netflix, renewing interest in the Dating Game Killer.

The chilling thriller, about a woman named Sheryl Bradshaw who crosses paths with a serial killer on a dating show, is based on a true and gruesome story. Read on to find out everything that happened. Spoilers for the movie, obviously.

Leah Gallo/Netflix

Who is the Dating Game Killer?Rodney Alcala was a typesetter at the LA Times who was on a murder “spree” across New York, California, and Wyoming in the months leading up to his brush with reality television. According to one of the prosecutors in the case, he was not a victim of abuse or a social outcast, but a sadist with a genius-level IQ.

By the time he went on The Dating Game in 1978, he had already served two prison terms for molesting girls under the age of 13, which producers did not know as they apparently failed to conduct background checks on contestants.

The real AlcalaMediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images

Who did he kill?Alcala’s victims were primarily young women he lured into dangerous situations by offering to take their picture. He was also a rapist, and the number of his victims may have been as high as 131, as advances in forensic technology over the decades linked him to more crimes.

How was he caught?As depicted in the movie, his first post–Dating Game arrest came when a teenage would-be victim managed to escape and call for help. However, this was not the end of his crimes, as his mother posted bail and he went on to kill again.

Projected images of Alcala’s victims

Ted Soqui/Getty Images

What was his sentence?He was given a death sentence for murder in California in 1980, and though the sentence was later overturned multiple times, the conviction was not. He wrote a book professing his innocence in 1994, but he pled guilty to other murders in New York in 2012. He died of natural causes in 2021.

What happened to Cheryl Bradshaw?The movie changed the spelling of Bradshaw’s first name to differentiate the character from the real person; it’s “Sheryl” in the movie, though it was Cheryl in real life. Bradshaw really did choose Alcala for a date, though in real life, it only took one backstage conversation for her to decide he was “creepy,” per the BBC. In the movie, they share a meal before she catches on.

In both the movie and real life, Bradshaw left California to live a quieter life and raise a family; she has since passed away.

Is Amy a real person?Yes and no. The brave teenager portrayed by Autumn Best in the film is inspired by a real survivor, but details have been changed, including her name. The real survivor later testified in 2010 that Alcala had “ruined her life.”