Carmen Electra Biography

From ‘Baywatch’ babe to reality show star, Carmen Electra has made the leap from sex symbol to pop culture icon.

Throughout the 90's, Carmen captured the spotlight even when she had little else to promote beyond her sexy looks. Her tempestuous personal life kept her in the headlines constantly.

Before Carmen married rocker Dave Navarro on MTV, she'd already posed for Playboy four times, dated Prince and married, then quickly divorced the flamboyant basketball star Dennis Rodman. Though they were together only a week, one spat landed both Carmen and Rodman in jail.

Carmen's personal life has kept her in the public eye since she was discovered by Prince in 1991. She was still Tara Patrick then, a 19-year-old dancer who'd left the Midwest to try and make it in L.A. Prince gave her her unforgettable name-and signed her to his label. Although her musical career never really took off, Carmen soon became world-famous as an actress on ‘Baywatch’, where she was Pamela Anderson's replacement.

Lately, Carmen has been trying to break out of the bombshell stereotype-first, spoofing her ‘Baywatch’ role in ‘Scary Movie’ - and appearing in ‘Starsky and Hutch’ with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson. That's not to say she's totally leaving her sexy image behind - she's recently released a fitness video, ‘Aerobic Striptease’, which teaches the art of giving a lap dance while working out.

In the 90's, Carmen had a chequered dating history-she was linked with several musicians, including rockers Tommy Lee, B-Real of the rap group Cypress Hill, and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit. Now, Carmen says she's found her soul mate in Dave Navarro and wants to start a family.

In July 2006, she and Navarro announced their separation. Their divorce was finalised the following year. She was recently linked with Joan Jett romantically, but Electra's publicist has insisted they are "just friends".