Carmen Electra [ 3 ] born Tara Leigh Patrick , April 20, 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 Electra began modeling in with appearances in Playboy magazine, before relocating to Los Angeles , where she had her breakthrough portraying Lani McKenzie in the action drama series Baywatch β She has also occasionally worked as a dancer, most notably with The Pussycat Dolls , as a featured guest of the group on VH1 Divas Electra, who told People in that she had "wanted to dance on Broadway," graduated from Princeton High School in Sharonville in , having transferred there from SCPA two years prior.
Electra is of Cherokee, German, and Irish descent, [ 14 ] 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".
Electra started her professional career in as a dancer at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio , performing in the show "It's Magic", one of the more popular shows in the park's history. In May , she was featured in a nude pictorial in Playboy magazine, the first of several. Electra was featured in Playboy four more times: June , December , April , and the January anniversary issue. She was on the cover of the last three of these issues.
Electra moved to Los Angeles , where she made her acting debut in the independent comedy horror film American Vampire In she was cast as Lani McKenzie in the American drama series Baywatch , for which she achieved her breakthrough. The role lasted a year and helped to establish her as a sex symbol , [ 14 ] which has lasted since the late s and the s. In , Electra starred in the family comedy film Cheaper by the Dozen 2 , which received negative reviews from critics, although it was a moderate box-office success and Electra's performance was praised, with Andrea Gronvall of The Chicago Reader writing that she was "the most winning performer of the bunch".
