Carmen Electra

Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), professionally known as Carmen Electra,[1] is an American glamour model, television personality, and entertainer. She gained fame for her appearances in Playboy magazine, on the MTV game show Singled Out, and on the TV series Baywatch, and has since become recognizable for her roles in the parody films Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans

Early life

Patrick was born in White Oak, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati), the daughter of Patricia, a singer, and Harry Patrick, an entertainer and guitarist.[2] Her mother died of a brain tumor in 1998.[3] Her older sister Debbie died from a heart attack, also in 1998. Tara graduated from Princeton High School in Sharonville.[4] She has Irish, German, Mexican and Cherokee ancestry.[5]

Career

Patrick moved to California in 1994, where she met Prince while auditioning for an all-girl rap group. Prince persuaded her to change her name to Carmen Electra and instead record a solo album. Soon after, she signed a recording contract with Prince's company Paisley Park Records, marking the start of a short-lived singing career.

In 1995, Electra started appearing in various television programs. Then, in May of 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) and MTV's Singled Out. She returned to Baywatch for the 2003 reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.

Electra became so popular among readers of Playboy that she was featured in the magazine three more times, with her second appearance in June 1997. She subsequently graced the cover twice, in December 2000 and April 2003. In the Playboy Cyber Club, she was the first woman invited to be a celebrity guest photographer; she chose Playmate Jennifer Walcott as her subject model. Electra could return in any of the other Playboy issues because of two things that happened to her. Electra has appeared in several films, such as Good Burger (1997), The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human (1999), the horror spoof Scary Movie (2000) and also appeared in Scary Movie 4 (2006), Epic Movie (2007), Date Movie (2006), the remake of the 1970s TV show Starsky & Hutch (2004) and Cheaper by the Dozen 2. She won an MTV Movie Award (best kiss) for Starsky & Hutch. Her acting work is generally panned by critics.[6]

In 1999, she appeared in the Bloodhound Gang's music video of "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 sexy android "Six". Also in 2005, she began the Naked Women's Wrestling League, acting as the commissioner for the professional wrestling promotion.[7] In late 2006, Carmen began to be featured in commercials by Taco Bell.

Electra is the current spokesmodel for Ritz Camera Centers, appearing in their television and print ads with CEO David Ritz. She is featured in some video spoofs of Lonelygirl15 that are advertising Epic Movie.

She is a playable character in the video game Def Jam: Fight for New York and is one of the celebrity challenges in the video game ESPN NFL 2K5, along with Steve-O, Jamie Kennedy and others.

Other work

Electra portrayed Velvita, a.k.a. lonelygirl362436, as a spoof of lonelygirl15 as an Epic Movie teaser.

Carmen Electra Aerobic Striptease is a five-disc DVD exercise series that combines teaching classic stripping moves with a low impact cardio workout also starring Jon Eby.

Released in January 2008, the Electra-Pole is a pole dancing kit inspired and endorsed by Carmen Electra that users can assemble in their home in 5-minutes. Suitable for all levels of dancer from beginners to professionals, it is stable enough to support any pole dancing move, including flips and inverts.

Embrace is a comic book putatively written by Electra for London Night Studios. "Glam Slam Ulysses" Interactive Musical Theatrical Production,” conceived by Prince, choreographed by Jamie King. Debuted at Prince's legendary Glam Slam L.A. nightclub.

Electra also appeared in commercials for Maxim Men's Hair Color products (2004-2005) and Taco Bell (2006-2007).

She also appeared in an episode of "House" where she portrayed an injured golfer and an injured farmer, playing out House's fantasy.

Personal life

Electra's first rock and pop star relationship was with Prince, though the relationship was short lived. Electra was previously romantically involved with rap star B-Real of Cypress Hill from 1995 to 1998. It was revealed when B-Real and Electra were both on The Howard Stern Show that B-Real had bought her breast implants.

Electra achieved publicity during her on-again, off-again marriage to basketball star Dennis Rodman from 1998 to 1999. The wedding to Rodman took place at Little Chapel of the Flowers in Las Vegas, Nevada. Later, she had a brief affair with Tommy Lee, the ex-husband of Pamela Anderson.

On November 22, 2003, Electra married Dave Navarro, former lead guitarist for the rock bands Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers. The couple documented their courtship and marriage in an MTV celeb reality show called 'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave.[8] On 17 July 2006, she and Navarro announced their separation. Their rep confirmed their separation to Star Magazine. Electra filed for divorce on 10 August. It was finalized on February 20, 2007.[9][10]

In 2006, Electra stated that when she was eight years old she had a "little girl crush" on Joan Jett. In 2007, tabloid sources linked the two of them together romantically.[11] However, Electra's spokeswoman has insisted "They are just friends."[12] In June 2007, talk show host Jimmy Kimmel asked Electra if her relationship with Jett was romantic. Electra stated, "We're just friends". She went on to say that she collects tabloid articles that suggest she and Jett are dating because she is a fan of Jett and finds them amusing as well. Carmen is currently dating Rob Patterson current live guitarist for KoRn. She recently got an "R" tattoo behind her ear. [13] It is confirmed that Rob and Carmen are now engaged[14]

Charity work

Carmen Electra organized a fundraiser for Head to Hollywood, a non-profit organization which offers support to brain tumor survivors. Other charities which she supports include Elevate Hope, a charity which supports abused and abandoned children, and the Hollyrod Foundation which provides medical, physical and emotional support to those suffering from debilitating life circumstances especially Parkinson's Disease.