Biography
Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), known professionally as Carmen Electra, is a European-American and Native American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, dancer, and sex symbol. She rose to prominence through appearances in Playboy magazine, the MTV game show Singled Out, the TV series Baywatch, and as a dancer with the Pussycat Dolls. She has also appeared in parody films including Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Disaster Movie.
Born in Sharonville, Ohio, Electra is the daughter of Patricia, a singer, and Harry, a guitarist and entertainer. She attended Ann Weigel Elementary School and studied dance at Dance Artists dance studio under Gloria J. Simpson in Western Hills, a Cincinnati neighborhood. Her mother passed away from a brain tumor in 1998, and her older sister Debbie died of a heart attack the same year. Electra graduated from Princeton High School in Sharonville and also attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) within the Cincinnati Public School District. She has Irish, German, and Cherokee heritage.
Electra began her professional career in 1990 as a dancer in the show "It’s Magic" at Kings Island amusement park in Mason, Ohio, one of the park’s most popular productions. In 1991, she moved to California and met Prince. Shortly after, she signed a recording contract with Prince's Paisley Park Records and launched a brief singing career. It was during this time she adopted the professional name Carmen Electra.
Her television career began in 1995. In May 1996, she posed nude for Playboy magazine, marking her first of several pictorials. This exposure opened doors to higher-profile TV roles, including a regular role on Baywatch as Leilani "Lani" McKenzie from 1997 to 1998 and appearances on MTV's Singled Out. She returned to Baywatch for the 2003 reunion film Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.
Electra appeared in Playboy four additional times: June 1997, December 2000, April 2003, and January 2009 in the anniversary issue. She graced the magazine’s cover three times—in December 2000, April 2003, and the 55th anniversary issue in January 2009.
Her film credits include American Vampire (1997), Good Burger (1997), The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999), Scary Movie (2000), Meet the Spartans (2008), Scary Movie 4 (2006), Epic Movie (2007), Date Movie (2006), Disaster Movie (2008), Starsky & Hutch (2004), and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. She won an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss for Starsky & Hutch. Additionally, she appeared as herself in an episode of House, portraying an injured golfer and farmer in a fantasy sequence.
In 1999, Electra featured in the Bloodhound Gang's music video for "The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope." In 2005, she joined the voice cast of the animated series Tripping the Rift, replacing Gina Gershon as the voice of the android "Six." The same year, she launched the Naked Women's Wrestling League, serving as commissioner of the wrestling promotion. In late 2006, she began appearing in Taco Bell commercials.
