Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress, singer, and former pornographic actress. Lords got into the adult film industry by using a fake birth certificate to conceal the fact that she was two years under the legal age of 18. Lords starred in adult films and was one of the most sought-after actresses in the adult entertainment industry during her career. When the FBI acted on an anonymous tip that Lords was a minor during her time in the industry, and that pornographers were distributing and selling these illegal images and videotapes, the resulting fallout led to prosecution of those responsible for creating and distributing. In addition, all but the last of her adult films were banned as child pornography.
After her departure from the industry only two days after turning the legal age of 18, Lords enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, where she studied method acting with the intention of becoming a mainstream actress. She made her mainstream screen debut at age 19 in a leading role in the 1988 remake of the 1957 Roger Corman science fiction film Not of This Earth. Lords followed with the role of Wanda Woodward in John Waters's teen comedy, Cry-Baby (1990). Her other acting credits included the television series MacGyver, Married... with Children, Tales from the Crypt, Roseanne, Melrose Place, Profiler, First Wave, Highlander: The Series, Gilmore Girls and Will & Grace. She also appeared in films such as Skinner (1993), Virtuosity (1995), Blade (1998), Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008) and Excision (2012), which earned her a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress as well as a Fright Meter Award and a CinEuphoria Award.
