Carmen Electra, half a century of an icon of the nineties who remained an actress at half gas

From a very young age, Carmen Electra, whose real name is Tara Leigh Patrick, wanted to be a star.

Since her father and her mother had worked with the

Bootsy Collins (he as guitarist, she as backing vocalist) were always supportive of his artistic aspirations.

Both not only financed her ballet, modern dance and choir studies at the prestigious School for Creative and Performing Arts in Cincinnati;

furthermore, when she came of age, they encouraged her to leave her family nest.

This is how she left her native Ohio behind and headed for Los Angeles.

A course that has changed throughout her life and that, in recent days, at her 50th birthday, she has once again taken center stage because she has opened a profile on the OnlyFans adult content network.

Something that she justified by arguing that she wanted to have "creative control" over her career.

Photos of her in lingerie, a swimsuit or high-heeled shoes can be seen on the payment platform since last Wednesday, May 18.

Far away is that Carmen Electra who tried to make her way in Hollywood by going to all kinds of auditions.

No one bet on her.

Although her situation changed for her when one morning, dancing in a club, the singer Robin Power approached her and told her that she could fit in a female band that Prince was forming.

“Next thing I know, I'm at her house.

He was very quiet, which made me even more nervous.

She told me: 'I want you to sing something.'

She walked over to the piano and played

, from

.

Fortunately, I had participated in that musical, so I knew the song”, Electra recalled in 2014 about that first meeting in

.

Months passed and she assumed that she had been rejected.

However, as she recounted in

In 2017, Prince called her to listen to a song that he had composed especially for her and that, in the same way, would define her stage name: “He wrote me a song called

and said that if I liked it, I could record it.

She loved me, but I reminded her that she called me Tara.

Her response was: 'You look like a Carmen, so, to me, you are Carmen'.

Although that piece never saw the light of day, the author of

invited her to move to her mansion in Minneapolis and act as the opening act for the European leg of the

tour .

She even produced her only full-length to date: a self-titled album that in 1993 went completely unnoticed on the sales charts.

Between the two there was more than a strictly musical alliance.

The reason for their breakup was that Electra wanted to return to Los Angeles for more professional opportunities.

According to

, once she made that decision, she survived in the Californian city with just enough and without a fixed address.

“I didn't have a penny.

She had a nice wardrobe and my makeup bag, so people didn't understand or realize my life situation, ”she added about it.

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Her destiny changed suddenly in 1996 when she starred in her first cover for the US edition of

.

“Honestly, I was very shy the first time I posed.

I don't know how I got over it.

Once I did, I realized that

was very respectful.

Looking at the photos I had to pinch myself.

I couldn't believe that she was actually in the magazine and that she was going to be a part of such an iconic era.

Marilyn Monroe started in the same publication, and those are the women that I admire and have really been inspired by, ”she confessed in 2019 in an interview with Fox News.

In terms of work, her most memorable years were 1997 and 1998: apart from presenting the dating program

on the MTV channel, she snuck into televisions around the world thanks to her role as Lani McKenzie in the successful series

.

He only participated in 22 episodes of the eighth season, but after that he became the star he had always longed for.

As he pointed out on Fox News, the famous red swimsuit still fits.

She has it framed on a wall in his living room.

Carmen Electra, in 'Baywatch' in 1997.

Beyond his television triumphs, at that time he also monopolized the covers of the gossip press for the tumultuous relationship he had with Dennis Rodman.

They were married on November 14, 1998, in Las Vegas, but the Chicago Bulls player filed for an annulment just nine days later, saying he was not in his right mind the night he said the words "I do." .

They reconciled shortly after, but ended up divorcing in March 1999.

The reason for that wedding has an explanation.

In August 1998, two of his greatest pillars died: his mother, from a brain tumor, and her sister, from a heart attack.

“She was completely numb.

Dennis was such a fun person and we went out every night.

I remember thinking, 'This is my way out.

I'm just going to have fun and I'm not going to worry about anything.'

That's why we got married,” he detailed in

magazine in 2004. “I guess he was trying to hold on to what he had.

He didn't want to lose anyone else.

When I started going through really hard times with him, I became addicted to feeling that pain instead of dealing with my feelings for my mother and sister.”

Carmen Electra has never emulated a hit as famous as that of

.

However, at least until 2018, she did not stop appearing in franchises such as

and she starred in the occasional cameo in small television productions.

She also occasionally performed with The Pussycat Dolls and released various tracks (her latest single,

, dates from 2014).

And, taking advantage of the reality television

, in 2003 she lent herself to the MTV cameras recording the preparations for her wedding with Dave Navarro, the guitarist of the band Jane's Addiction, on the program

.

When it comes to love, the American has not had much luck.

In the summer of 2006, she filed for divorce from Navarro and, between 2008 and 2012, she was with Rob Patterson, a member of the groups Otep and Filter.

Since then she has not been known to any other partner.

Just turned 50 (on April 20), and with 1.3 million followers on Instagram, she is currently very busy promoting Gogo Skincare, the line of facial creams that she launched in 2020. And, also, providing of content to his more than 55,000 OnlyFans followers.