Traci Lords Autograph

Above, Traci Lords autograph.

Back around 1984, Traci Lords caused a bit of a stir when she appeared in Penthouse magazine (the infamous issue that ended the Miss America reign of Vanessa Williams) in a pictorial. The reason for the stir was that she was underage at the time (age 16). Oops!

According to Wikipedia:

Traci Lords (born Nora Louise Kuzma; May 7, 1968) is an American actress and singer. She entered into the adult film industry by using a fake birth certificate to conceal that she was two years under the legal age of eighteen. Lords starred in adult films and was one of the most sought-after actresses in that 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 the tapes. In addition, all but the last of her adult films were banned as child pornography.

After leaving the pornography industry two days after turning the legal age of eighteen, Lords enrolled at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, where she studied method acting with the intention of becoming a mainstream actress.

She did succeed in becoming a mainstream actress and she appeared in a number of movies and television shows. She's now also a singer with the Radioactive record label.

Above, Traci Lords at the TV Land convention. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

I was attending the TV Land convention in Burbank in 2005 with Noel Neill and Lords's table was nearby. We chatted for a bit (we found that we both were residents of the South Bay area of Los Angeles County for a time) and I got her autograph, which I found yesterday while looking for something else.

I found her friendly and easy to chat with.