Carmen Electra - Entertainer - Model and Actress

Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), professionally known as Carmen Electra,

is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, entertainer and sex symbol. She gained fame for her appearances in Playboy magazine, on the MTV game show Singled Out, on the TV series Baywatch and Summerland, for her appearances dancing with the Pussycat Dolls, and has since become recognizable for her roles in the parody films Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Disaster Movie.

Patrick was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, she is the daughter of Patricia, a singer, and Mr. Schneck, an entertainer and guitarist. Her mother died of a brain tumor in 1998. Her older sister Debbie died from a heart attack, also in 1998. Carmen graduated from Princeton High School in Sharonville. She has Irish, German, and Cherokee ancestry.

She 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.

Electra became so popular among readers of Playboy that she was featured in the magazine four more times, with her second appearance in June 1998, third in December 2000, fourth in April 2003 and her fifth in the January 2009 anniversary issue. She subsequently graced the cover three times, in December 2000, April 2003 and on the 55th Anniversary Issue in January 2009. 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 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.

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.

Source [ Wikipedia ]