(Born in 1968 as Nora Louise Kuzma) porn star, actor, singer
A teenage runaway and aspiring model, Lords ended up (through forged ID)
gracing the pages of Penthouse at just 15. Cocaine addiction led
Lords into porn movies, of which she made dozens (including
compilations) before being arrested in her Redondo Beach home by the
FBI in May 1986. Although Lords' agent and two producers were indicted
for sexual exploitation of a minor, charges against them were dropped. I Love You Traci (1987), shot in France, is Lords' single legal-age film from her porn years. John Waters cast her in Cry-Baby (1990, alongside trash-icons Patty Hearst, Iggy Pop, and Tiger Beat refugee Johnny Depp), and gave her a cameo in Serial Mom (1994). Thus legitimized, Lords went on to claim roles in sitcoms Roseanne and Married With Children, then to command the respect of her generation as a cult member on Melrose Place.
When Traci Lords turned her hand to singing, her 1995 debut single
"Control" (from the album1,000 Fires on the Radioactive label) topped
the Billboard dance charts; she was further legitimized in 1996, when
she starred in Cheat, a Cleo Award-winning Guess? jeans commercial
with Juliette Lewis and Harry Dean Stanton. The same year, Lords made
an appearance as a runway model for L.A. designer Janet Howard.
Richey: "Traci Lords is female power!"
Nicky: "Everybody thinks "Traci Lords - dirty slut", but she's actually one of the most articulate Americans we have ever met."
MANICS REFERENCE:
Traci Lords sings with James on Little Baby Nothing
