Traci Lords

Traci Elizabeth Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress, former pornographic actress, singer, model, writer, producer, and director. During the mid 1980s, she used a fake ID to conceal the fact that she was two years underage when she starred in X-rated films and was one of the most sought-after pornographic actresses in the adult entertainment industry. When the FBI acted on an anonymous tip that Lords was a minor during her time in the industry and pornographers were distributing and selling illegal images and videotapes, the resulting fallout led to prosecutions and court cases in addition to bans on all but the last of her adult films. After her departure from pornography only two days after turning the legal age of 18, Lords enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, where she studied method acting with the intention of becoming a mainstream actress. She made her mainstream screen debut at age 19 in a leading role in the 1988 remake of the 1957 Roger Corman science fiction film Not of This Earth. Lords followed with the role of Wanda Woodward in John Waters' teen comedy, Cry-Baby (1990). Her other acting credits included the television series MacGyver, Married... with Children, Tales from the Crypt, Roseanne, Melrose Place, Profiler, First Wave, Gilmore Girls and Will & Grace. She also appeared in films such as Skinner (1993), Virtuosity (1995), Blade (1998), Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) and most recently Excision (2012), which earned her a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as a Fright Meter Award and a CinEuphoria Award. Lords also pursued music in addition to her film career. After her song "Love Never Dies" was featured on the soundtrack to the film Pet Sematary Two (1992), she was signed to Radioactive Records and subsequently released her debut studio album, 1000 Fires (1995) to generally positive reviews. Despite the poor sales of the album, the lead single "Control" had moderate commercial success. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart and was included on the soundtrack to the film Mortal Kombat (1995), which was eventually certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In 2003, Lords published her autobiography, Traci Lords: Underneath It All, which received positive reviews from critics and debuted at number 31 on The New York Times Best Seller list. She is currently starring in the comedy series Swedish Dicks on Pop.