Nora Louise Kuzma was born in Steubenville, Ohio on the seventh of May 1968. She now goes by the name Traci Lords. She got her first name from her best friend and her favorite actress Katharine Hepburn, and the last name was borrowed from her favorite actor Jack Lord of the "Hawaii 5-0" fame. Traci has two siblings. Her mother divorced Traci's alcoholic father when she was fourteen and they moved to Redondo Beach, California. Traci ran away at the age of sixteen. At eighteen she started studying at famed Lee Strasberg Institute.

Her first main stream movie was the sci-fi cult "Not Of This Earth". She appeared in the Johnny Depp hit film "Cry Baby", for which she pursued her role vigorously. Not surprisingly she lists Johnny as her favorite co-star, her reasons centering around her fascination of his determination and ability to change his image as a person and as an actor. She has appeared in movies "Blade" and "Virtuosity".

In Profiler Traci played the role of Jack-Of-All-Trades' partner Jill. "From one psycho to another" she laughs and refers to her other well-known role as Rikki in "Melrose Place". According to her she is a chicken at heart and is terrified of scary things. But that didn't stop her from accepting the role of Sharon Lesher/Jill. It was her mother who comforted her by saying that since her character is already living with a killer, there isn't much chance of something bad happening to her.

Traci has released an album called "1000 Fires" on Radioactive Records. The song "Fallen Angel" was featured on the "Mortal Kombat" movie, and it gave Traci her first double platinum record. Her musical influences include Portishead, Blondie and The Cure. She has also covered "Love Never Dies" for "Pet Cemetary II" soundtrack, and her singing can also be heard on the Manic Street Preachers' "Little Baby Nothing" song.

In her free time she likes to read and cook. "I make a really good red sauce when I'm feeling a little feisty" she remarks. She works out at the gym and boxes. She absolutely loves Stephen King novels despite their frightening stories and children's books, especially Dr. Seuss. She devotes some of her time to "Children of the Night" charity organisation, which aims at keeping underage children off the streets of Hollywood.

Traci is married, and she resides in Los Angeles.

Picture:
Won in an auction at eBay.

Links:
Traci Elizabeth Lords
The Temple of Traci Lords
First Wave