Singer, dancer, performer, host and spokesmodel Tara Leigh Patrick (aka Carmen Electra) was born in April 1972 in White Oak, Ohio. The youngest child in a brood of five, she was evidently a very talented child. In her tender age, she was chosen to study at the School of Creative and Performing Arts where she was able to hone her talent. In her teens, Carmen was a very active performer in school musicals, often relegated to the task of doing choreographies and dance routines. By the time she was 15 years old, Carmen nourished her big dream of becoming a famous celebrity and moved first to Minneapolis with her sister, a model, and then to Los Angeles, where she performed in musicals for four years before she finally met her destiny.
It was pop icon Prince who discovered Tara Leigh Patrick and christened her Carmen Electra. The name change was a marketing decision, Carmen Electra at the time, was being launched as a pop singer under Prince’s record label, Paisley. This was sometime in 1992. Unfortunately, her debut single Go-Go Dancer did not do well in the charts and her singing career didn’t prosper. When an opportunity came for her to pose in the nude for Hugh Hefner’s Playboy in 1996, this became the vehicle that would later launch her star in the entertainment industry.
Following the 1996 Playboy stint, the station MTV, which failed to air her songs and music videos when she was still a struggling singer, chose Carmen Electra to host MTV’s Singled Out (replacing Jenny McCarthy). Her deal was for 65 episodes but the show folded sooner than expected. However, she was again offered by the same company to host Loveline. In 1997, Carmen received another big break, playing the role of Lani McKenzie in the popular TV Show, Baywatch.
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