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Carmen Electra

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Tara Leigh Patrick (born April 20, 1972), better known by her stage name Carmen Electra, is an American glamour model, actress, television personality, singer, and dancer. She began her career as a singer after moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she met Prince, who produced her debut record. She later relocated to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a career as an actress, gaining notoriety for her role as Lani McKenzie on the television series Baywatch.

She made her film debut in the horror comedy American Vampire (1998), and has had roles in multiple parody films, including Scary Movie, Date Movie, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans, and Disaster Movie. Electra has also appeared as a model in Playboy magazine, and worked as a dancer with the Pussycat Dolls.

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Electra started her professional career in 1990 as a dancer at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio, in the show "It's Magic", one of the more popular shows in the park's history. In 1991, she moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she met singer and songwriter Prince. Soon after, Electra signed a recording contract with Prince's Paisley Park Records and began a short-lived singing career. During her time at Paisley Park Records, she officially became known as Carmen Electra.

In 1995, Electra started appearing in television shows. In May 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 in 1997–1998, as Lani McKenzie) and MTV's Singled Out. She returned to Baywatch for the 2003 reunion movie, Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding.

Electra was featured in Playboy four more times: June 1997, December 2000, April 2003, and the January 2009 anniversary issue. She was on the cover of the last three of these issues.

In 1997, Electra appeared in the films American Vampire and Good Burger.

In 1997, Electra modeled for the covers of the comic books Razor and the Ladies of London Night by London Night Studios. Electra appeared in commercials for Maxim Men's Hair Color products (2004–2005). In 2006, Electra signed on as the 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 advertised Epic Movie. That same year she appeared as the face and spokesperson for Max Factor cosmetics in their television and print ads. In 2007, Electra became a published author with the release of her book, How to Be Sexy. She is the oldest cover girl in the publication history of FHM Magazine.

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Electra's 2000s feature film appearances include the horror film Scary Movie (2000). In 2004, she appeared in the remake of the 1970s TV show Starsky & Hutch (2004), for which she won an MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss. Her subsequent films during that decade include Cheaper by the Dozen 2 (2005); Scary Movie 4 and Date Movie in 2006; Epic Movie (2007); and Meet the Spartans and Disaster Movie in 2008.

In 2002, an extinct species of fly was named Carmenelectra shechisme in honor of Electra's "splendid somal structure".

In 2004, Electra appeared as characters in the video game Def Jam: Fight for New York and as one of the celebrity challenges in the video game ESPN NFL 2K5.

In 2005, she appeared in an episode of House (series 1, ep. 21), in which she portrayed herself as an injured golfer and an injured farmer, playing out House's fantasy. That same year, 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. In late 2006, Electra was featured in commercials by Taco Bell.

Electra appeared as a guest judge on So You Think You Can Dance Season 8 on July 6, 2011. She appeared along with regular series judges Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy and fellow guest judge Travis Wall. In 2012, Electra joined Britain's Got Talent as a guest judge for the auditions staged in London, she acted as a replacement for Amanda Holden, who was absent due to complications following child birth.
In 1999, she appeared in the Bloodhound Gang's music video of "The Inevitable Return of the Great White Dope". That same year she appeared in the film The Mating Habits of the Earthbound Human.

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