Carmen Electra - 5 feet, 3 inches of sauciness

When you hear the name Carmen Electra, what comes to mind is probably a great head of hair, a curvy figure and, above all else, one beautiful pair of breasts. In spite of all her movie work, Carmen Electra remains best known for her physical attributes. Carmen Electra has German, Irish and Cherokee genes. She’ tiny—height-wise, that is. Mother Nature was quite generous when gracing Carmen Electra with feminine assets—she easily fills out a 36C bra. But to say that Carmen Electra is the thirty-something equivalent of someone like Paris Hilton, famous for being famous and for the occasional nudie pic, is totally inaccurate. Carmen Electra is one busy babe. She’s a singer, actress and model. And unlike other celebrity divas, whose attitude towards beauty is “show, don’t share,” Carmen Electra generously transmits her beauty wisdom to beauty hopefuls via her own DVD series, Carmen Electra’s Aerobic Striptease. She also just released a book called How to be Sexy, in which she shares with other women the importance of lingerie, and other crucial sexiness tips. This bootylicious babe is not one of those irritating actresses who depends on her looks to stay popular.

 

As Carmen Electra herself muses: “Certain people will look at Playboy to see the outer beauty. But you can’t make it very long in this business with only that. You have to have something on the inside… which includes talent if you want a real career.” But does Carmen Electra have talent? Admittedly, it was hard to tell back when was choosing projects like Scary Movie and Get Over It. Now that she’s branching out a little, taking on more challenging roles like a successful porn star in the Brit flick I Want Candy, we’ll hopefully get to see more of this alluring actress’ dramatic range. Up until now, though, Carmen Electra has had no problems garnering fans even without the impressive cinematic repertoire to back her up. People just love Carmen Electra. Carmen Electra was born Tara Leigh Patrick on August 20, 1972 in White Oak, Ohio. The promise of fame in her future shone from her even as a child; Tara Leigh Patrick was enrolled in Creative Performing Arts school by the age of nine. Her dream, however, was singing. She took singing lessons and, as a teenager, danced in musicals—even choreographing some of the routines herself. The glamorous career of Carmen Electra began with a stint of modeling jobs for Target Department Stores in Minneapolis. Eventually, Carmen Electra (then still Tara Leigh Patrick) saved up enough cash to head to Los Angeles and try her luck. Apparently, luck was on her side. Within one week of setting foot in the City of Angels, Tara Leigh Patrick was discovered by none other than Prince.

 

The Great One was taken with the fledgling singer’s charm and style. He renamed her Carmen Electra, signed her on to his label, Paisley Park Records, and helped her release a pop single, Go-Go Dancer, which sold poorly, got minimal MTV airplay, and faded into the pop music netherworld unnoticed. Modern-day celebrity folklore claims that an actress knows she’s made it when she’s asked to pose in Playboy. Carmen Electra cut to the chase, saved the acting for later and posed for Playboy right away, in May 1996. It was the photo shoot that would launch her career. Within a year, she was finally on MTV, this time not as a singer but as a TV show host. She replaced another busty bombshell and auto shop pinup favorite, Jenny McMarthy, as the host of Singled Out. Carmen Electra wasn’t as popular as Jenny McMarthy had been, and Carmen Electra had yet another MTV flop to add to her resume. However, MTV liked her enough to give her a gig hosting another show, Loveline. That same year, Carmen Electra got her most noticeable, lucrative role so far: a two-season gig as Lani McKenzie on Baywatch. It was a time when Baywatch fans worldwide were mourning the departure of Pamela Anderson. The addition of curvy Carmen Electra to the cast brought these anguished fans some much-needed solace. Carmen Electra then served as the Budweiser spokesperson. However, in spite of all her hard work, it was a tabloid scandal that really got Carmen Electra an everlasting spot in Hollywood history. Carmen Electra shot to fame in 1998 when she married whack job basketball player Dennis Rodman.

 

This was years before Britney Spears started tying the knot, so the fact that Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman filed for divorce a mere nine days after saying “Till death do us part” was, at that time, considered shocking behavior—even for a celebrity couple. Dennis Rodman claimed he wasn’t in the right state of mind when he married Carmen Electra, and wanted the marriage annulled. Before judging Carmen Electra on her mini-marriage, it should be noted that 1998 was an almost unimaginably heartbreaking year for the gorgeous goddess. She lost her mother to a brain tumor and her sister to a heart attack. One can’t help but feel happy that the after darkness, comes light theory came true for Carmen Electra, because in the years that followed this devastating time, the sultry sex symbol skyrocketed to superstardom. After appearing in a Bloodhound Gang video, Carmen Electra spent the turn of the millennium on the big screen. She appeared in a slew of movies: Scary Movie, Get Over It, Rent Control, Uptown Girls, My Boss’ Daughter, Getting Played, and Starsky & Hutch. She also lent her voice to the animated film, Lil’ Pimp. She later returned to MTV, this time as the star of Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave. The Dave in question was musician Dave Navarro, best known as the Jane’s Addiction guitarist. This Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson style reality show covered the months of preparation before the couple’s wedding in November 2003. Sadly, their romance ended in divorce. Considering that neither Carmen and Dave nor Nick and Jessica are still together, one has to wonder whether allowing an MTV crew and audience into your private life is as healthy as so many misguided, blinded-by-love celebrity newlyweds seem to think it is. Here’s another reason why Carmen Electra is popular: she’s very open. There’s no need for tabloids to speculate about what this screen sex bomb likes between the sheets. She openly spills the info herself. She’s publicly stated that she thinks about sex every twenty seconds, that she likes noise and dirty talk while making love, and that she’s renewed her membership to the Mile High Club several times over. She also boasts that she’s quite skilled in bed, and that she’s more of a “giver” than a “receiver.” However, Carmen Electra discovered the dark side of sexiness when she caught a documentary on inmates in a maxium-security prison—and caught a glimpse of her own poster hanging in several cell walls! So, what has Carmen Electra been doing lately? Carmen Electra has been loosening up buttons and burning up the stage with a team of other hotties lately. She’s a featured performer in the tantalizing song-and-dance troupe, The Pussycatt Dolls. Like many beautiful women, Carmen Electra occasionally encounters unsupportive people who try to steal her sunshine. Recently, on the set of a British Comedy called I Want Candy (where Carmen Electra plays a porn star), Carmen Electra got a special lesson in British slang courtesy of the film’s crew members. They asked her to repeat things, then burst out laughing. Eventually, it came out that the crew was actually trying to trick Carmen Electra into saying filthy things. Carmen Electra was not amused. Apparently, her fondness for talking dirty doesn’t extend beyond the bedroom walls.

 

However, I Want Candy promises to be the most interesting Carmen Electra role yet. She plays top porn star Candy Fiveways, a role Carmen Electra apparently relished because Candy, in addition to oodles of sex appeal, also had a “good heart”—vital, Electra insists, to a successful porn career. The role required little research on Carmen Electra’s part. She proudly told reporters that she’d already seen enough porn on her own time to know exactly what to do. Meanwhile, the film’s director, Stephen Surilk, had already seen enough Carmen Electra even before he cast her in the film. He’d seen her in Playboy and knew she’d be perfect for the part. Unlike many of her equally famous counterparts, Carmen Electra doesn’t have to worry about getting mobbed on the street. The busty beauty is only about five feet three inches tall—and no one believes that she’s really herself. She often gets spot by interested looking passerby who, hoping to compliment her, tell her she looks “just like a miniature Carmen Electra.” The actress believes people who see her onscreen expect her to be taller in real life. Another recent Carmen controversy has linked Carmen Electra with rocker Joan Jett. Rumors of lesbian love began flying when Carmen Electra began telling her friends that she was planning to cause a stir at a major lesbian event. While Carmen involved in girl-on-girl action is the fantasy of men worldwide, and probably more than a few women, Carmen Electra’s reps have repeatedly denied the rumors.