Carmen Electra
Carmen Electra (born Tara Leigh Patrick,[3] April 20, 1972) is an American actress, model, singer, and media personality. She began her career as a singer after moving to Minneapolis where she met Prince who produced her self-titled debut studio album, released in 1993. Electra began glamour modeling in 1996 with appearances in Playboy magazine, before relocating to Los Angeles, where she had her breakthrough portraying Lani McKenzie in the action drama series Baywatch (1997–1998).
Not to be confused with Tera Patrick.
Carmen Electra
In 1997, Electra hosted the MTV dating show Singled Out and made her film debut in the comedy horror American Vampire. In 2004, she co-starred in the MTV reality series 'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen and Dave, with her then-husband Dave Navarro. Electra has achieved recognition for her work in parody films, including Scary Movie (2000), Scary Movie 4 (2006), Date Movie (2006), Epic Movie (2007), Meet the Spartans (2008), and Disaster Movie (2008). Her other film credits include Good Burger (1997), Get Over It (2001), Starsky & Hutch (2004), Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005), Dirty Love (2005), Hot Tamale (2006), and I Want Candy (2007).
Electra has also occasionally worked as a dancer, most notably with The Pussycat Dolls, as a featured guest of the group on VH1 Divas 2004.[4]
Early life
Electra was born Tara Leigh Patrick on April 20, 1972, in Sharonville, Ohio (a Cincinnati suburb),[5] to Harry Patrick, a guitarist and entertainer, and his wife Patricia (d. 1998), a singer.[6] Electra attended Ann Weigel Elementary School and studied dance under Gloria J. Simpson at Dance Artists studio in Western Hills until age nine, when she enrolled in the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), a magnet arts school in the Cincinnati Public School District.[7] There, she was an older classmate of Nick Lachey, with whom she appeared in a production of Peter Pan.[8][9]
Electra, who told People in 1997 that she had "wanted to dance on Broadway," graduated from Princeton High School in Sharonville in 1990, having transferred there from SCPA two years prior.[10][11] Additionally, Electra attended and graduated from Barbizon Modeling and Acting School in Cincinnati.[12]
Electra is of Cherokee, German, and Irish descent,[13] and was very close to her family. She said of her mother, "My mom was my rock," and described her older sister Debbie as being "like a second mother to me".[14] After Debbie moved to Illinois, Electra said her life "revolved around my mom. She was my best friend, in my life 24/7 whether I wanted her there or not."[14]