Traci Lords

Real name: Nora Louise Kuzma

Birthday: 7 May, 1968

Birth city: Steubenville, Ohio, USA

Height: 5' 7 (170 cm)

Nora Louise Kuzma (born May 7, 1968), better known as Traci Elizabeth Lords and Tracy Lords, is an American actress. She first achieved notoriety for her appearances in pornographic films, but is now pursuing a mainstream career.

Career
Traci Elizabeth Lords was born Nora Louise Kuzma on May 7, 1968, in Steubenville, Ohio. She made her stage name by combining the first name of her high school best friend, Traci, and the last name of her favorite actor from Hawaii Five-O, Jack Lord. At fifteen she fled her abusive home, after having an abortion. While living with a forty-something boyfriend, she used a friend's sister's birth certificate to fake her way into the porn industry. She quickly became the hottest starlet in town, one of the first porn queens. By the time she was 18, she'd appeared in more than 100 adult films. She even modeled for widely distributed adult magazines, such as Penthouse, in the same September 1984 issue that exposed Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams). But in 1986, federal authorities discovered she was underage while making moves and they arrested the owners of her movie agency and X-citement Video, Inc.
The ensuing chaos cost the pornographic film industry millions as they were forced to pull her video tapes and magazines from store shelves. It also gave government prosecutors the ammo they need to attack the porn industry with a vengeance. Ironically, Lords herself was never charged, since as a minor, she was legally considered an exploited victim of the industry. Instead, the producers who accepted her fake IDs took the blame and people affiliated with her films suffered legal troubles for years. Only one of her films, Traci, I Love You was actually produced after her eighteenth birthday, and is the only one of her films commonly and legally available in the United States. In parts of Europe and other regions where the minimum legal age for involvement in pornographic films is lower, Lords' films are still available, and they are commonplace on the Internet.
The controversy still sparks debate. Lords claimed she was a victim of a manipulative industry, that drugged her and made her do things she did not want to do. But industry insiders, like Ron Jeremy and Ginger Lynn, as well as boyfriends, say they never saw her use drugs and that she was fully aware of her actions, if not legally liable. While Lords decried the porn industry, she continued to use the stage name that porn made famous for publicity, all the while claiming that people just would not let her forget her past.
Lords has since attempted to move into mainstream films with limited success. She has played roles in a number of B-movies. Some of her more notable films include Not of this Earth (1988), John Waters's Cry Baby, (1990) and Blade, (1998).
Lords also appeared in continuing roles in several television series, including Married with Children (1987), Roseanne (1988), and Melrose Place (1992), with single appearances in MacGyver (1985), Highlander (1992), Tales from the Crypt (1989), Hercules (1995), and Profiler (1996), among others.
In the 1990s, Lords began developing a career as a singer (including collaborating with the Manic Street Preachers on the single "Little Baby Nothing") , also appearing in the music videos of other performers and groups, and has become an active gay rights advocate.
In 2003 she published a book, Traci Lords: Underneath It All. (source: wikipedia.com)