Carmen Electra was born on April 20, 1972, the youngest of five children. As a
child, Carmen attended the School of Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati,
Ohio. Carmen graduated with the class of 1990 from Princeton High School in
Sharonville, Ohio. She actually attended high school with Nick Lachey from 98
Degrees.
After graduation, Carmen relocated to Minneapolis, where she resided with her
sister and made a living as a model for Target department stores. After four
years, the aspiring star moved to Los Angeles where she changed her name. Her
new name came from a blend of Bizet's opera Carmen and the goddess
Electra. After only one week, she was signed by Prince's Paisley Park record
label and later released her single "Go-Go Dancer." Her self-titled album was
released in 1992, but unfortunately her attempt at a music career was a failure.
In 1996, Carmen Electra posed for Hugh Hefner's magazine. The
following year, she was chosen by MTV as the next host of the show Singled
Out. After the show ended, she got a second chance as the host of
Loveline, also on MTV. Carmen's big break came when she was cast as Lani
McKenzie on Baywatch Hawaii from 1997-1998. In 2000, she was featured in
the comic book Embra, was the national spokesperson for Budweiser, and
she also appeared in Scary Movie. Since then, she has appeared in several
films and hosted two shows for Comedy Central. Carmen posed nude in the April
2003 issue of Playboy magazine. Also in 2003, she appeared in My Boss's
Daughter and released her DVD workout series, Carmen Electra's Aerobic
Striptease. In 2004, she appeared in Starsky & Hutch with Ben
Stiller and Owen Wilson. In 2005, she will appear in Getting Played with
Vivica Fox and Stacey Dash.
Carmen Electra married Dennis Rodman on November 14, 1998 in the "Chapel of
the Flowers" in Las Vegas, but they separated nine days later and were divorced
on April 6, 1999. Carmen and David Navarro were engaged in August 2001, and they
married on November 22, 2003. Their wedding launched an MTV reality show:
'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave, which documented the months of
planning leading up to their wedding.
