Carmen Electra — biography, films, roles and trivia

Biography

Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), professionally known as Carmen Electra is a European-American/Native-American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, dancer and sex symbol. She gained fame for her appearances in Playboy magazine, on the MTV game show Singled Out, on the TV series Baywatch, and dancing with the Pussycat Dolls, and has since had roles in the parody films Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Disaster Movie.

Electra was born in Sharonville, Ohio, the daughter of Patricia, a singer, and Harry, a guitarist and entertainer. She attended Ann Weigel Elementary School and then studied dance at Dance Artists dance studio under Gloria J. Simpson, in Western Hills, a neighborhood of Cincinnati. Her mother died of a brain tumor in 1998. Her older sister Debbie died from a heart attack, also in 1998. Carmen graduated from Princeton High School in Sharonville. Carmen Electra also attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) in the Cincinnati Public School District. She has Irish, German, and Cherokee ancestry.

Electra started her professional career in 1990 as a dancer at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio in the show "It’s Magic", one of the more popular shows in the park's history. In 1991, she moved to California and met Prince. Soon after meeting Prince, Electra signed a recording contract with Prince's Paisley Park Records and began a short-lived singing career.During her time at Paisley Park Records, she officially became known as Carmen Electra.

In 1995, Electra started appearing in television programs. In May 1996 she was featured in a nude pictorial in Playboy magazine, the first of several. This exposure led to higher profile television appearances, including Baywatch (cast member from 1997–1998, as Leilani "Lani" McKenzie) and MTV's Singled Out. She returned to Baywatch for the 2003 reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.

Filmography

1

2005 American Dad! Lisa Silver (voice)

Interesting facts

8

1
Real name is Tara Leigh Patrick.
2
By 1993, Electra's story followed the typical scenario of a star who fades out as soon as she ignites. A year later, everyone had already forgotten about her. But in 1995, Carmen made herself known again by appearing on the Nickelodeon show All That. In March 1996, she posed nude for Playboy and also took part in the Playboy Cheerleaders video shoot. In October of that same year, Carmen was chosen as a replacement. After that, she managed to land a role in Baywatch instead of Pamela Anderson.
3
She is known for her ten-day marriage to Dennis Rodman, as well as for scandalous antics and a love of shocking behavior.
4
Carmen currently lives in Los Angeles.
5
From the age of nine, Carmen studied at the School of Arts. There she learned to sing and dance.
6
However, despite the fact that Prince was behind her, promoting her album on Rolling Stone and MTV, the project ended in failure.
7
She chose her stage name after Prince told her in 1991 that she looked like Carmen.
8
At fifteen, Carmen was already performing in Los Angeles, and at 19 she signed a contract with Paisley Park Records.