Traci Lords is a study of a determined and complex women with a
very controversial background. A teen runaway Traci began nude
modeling and making adult films at the age of 15. An incredibly
developed full figured girl she easily duped photographers and
producer/director types with the help of a false birth certificate
and driver's license. Her stage name is a combination of Traci,
from a former school friend, and Lords in honor of her favorite
male actor Jack Lord (Hawaii Five-O). Her cat is named Steve
McGarrett, the name of the character Lord played on the show. Traci
made some 80-100 X-rated movies (some are footage from previous
shoots) between 1984 and 1986. In '86 it was discovered she was
underage and the word got out that any films with her in them were
illegal to rent or buy and video stores around the country rushed
to remove them. Meanwhile on her 18th birthday Traci made the only
legal footage of herself in a porn movie. She controlled
distribution rights and many people believed she orchestrated the
revelation herself so she could be the only one to profit from her
x-rated films. Many people within the adult film industry made a
tacit agreement to never promote Traci or talk about her since they
felt betrayed. The government tried to prosecute the producers of
the movie "Those Young Girls" for child pornography. The case fell
mostly apart when the governemnt admitted they too had been duped
when Lords traveled to Europe on a fake passport. After her exile
from adult films Traci began to resurect her life. Her ambition was
to make the transformation into mainstream films. She enrolled in
acting school, began voice lessons, and built on her natural acting
talents. Her first mainstream "break" came in the 1988 remake of
the Roger Corman sci-fi classic "Not Of This Earth". It would prove
to be the last time Traci would openly bare her breasts for the
camera. Rare footage of a scene where she exits a shower has been
seen as an outtake. Traci walks out of the shower and warning the
cameramen to get ready to get the best look they could at her naked
form. She jokes while draping the towel around her waist, turning
her exposed chest to the camera, and then covers up. Subsequent
roles would have her placed in romantic scenes with very little to
see and much to the imagination for a public that only a couple of
years earlier had seen every facet of this beautiful girl.
Throughout the nineties Traci distinguished herself as a respected
actress, an advocate for gay rights, a singer, and a reliable
talent. Her role on TV's Melrose Place was critically acclaimed.
Over the last half of the nineties Traci has emerged as a popular
lead actress for many B movies that go straight to video/cable. She
has always despised being referred to as "an ex-porn star". She
hates that Tim Allen can be convicted of selling drugs and
Hollywood will forgive and forget but she still bears the stigma of
her porn years. It's probably the fantasy of the underage girl who
fooled an entire industry, and at the height of her career was
unquestionably the most popular actress with fans and filmakers
alike.
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– In her new autobiography Underneath It All, Lords says she used a fake ID to pose for Penthouse -- Lords, who made dozens of adult films while a teenager, remembers subsequently being happy about an FBI raid on her apartment, saying, ?I'm really glad that they did what they did. I perhaps would have liked them to have done it in a different way because it wasn't right they took me out of bed half-naked and took me downtown.?
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– Traci comes from her girlfriend's name, Lords from Jack Lord (Hawaii Five-O)
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– Strong supporter of gay rights.
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– Was the centerfold model for the same issue of Penthouse Magazine that exposed Miss America 1984, Vanessa L. Williams. Because she was underage, it is illegal to own or trade that issue unless the pictorial of Ms. Lords is removed.
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– Was Penthouse Pet of the Month - September 1984
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– Is a brown belt in Ninjitsu.
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