When Traci Lords entered the adult entertainment industry in early 1984, she used highly sophisticated forged identity documents—including a fake birth certificate—to present herself as a legal adult. In reality, she was born in May 1968, making her only 15 years old when she entered the industry and shot the layout for Penthouse .
The fallout from the Traci Lords scandal was the primary catalyst for the 18 U.S.C. § 2257
The September 1984 issue of Penthouse is legendary in publishing history for two reasons:
Some of the notable aspects of Traci Lords' 1984 Penthouse feature include: traci lords 1984 penthouse hot
It was during August 1984, when she was selected to model for Penthouse 's September issue, that she was asked to choose a stage name. She chose the name "Traci" after a popular name among her friends, and "Lords" after the actor Jack Lord from her favorite TV show, Hawaii Five-O . For a payment of $5,000—a fortune for a runaway teenager—Lords posed for the photo shoot that would launch her career and ultimately threaten to destroy the magazine that published her.
These early appearances represented the apex of her adult industry career before the subsequent, well-documented controversies regarding her age surfaced later in the decade. Transition from Adult to Mainstream
It featured unauthorized nude photos of the then-reigning Miss America, forcing her to resign her crown. When Traci Lords entered the adult entertainment industry
In 1984, Traci Lords entered the adult entertainment industry using a high-quality forged birth certificate that stated she was over the age of majority. Her striking appearance quickly caught the attention of major industry figures, leading to her selection as the Penthouse "Pet of the Month" for September 1984.
: She starred in cult classics like John Waters' Cry-Baby (1990) and the horror-action film Blade (1998) .
Born Nora Louise Kuzma in Steubenville, Ohio, Traci Lords was, on the surface, the archetypal 1980s blonde bombshell. She had the pouty lips, the platinum hair, and a figure that seemed perfectly designed for the glamour of the men's magazine world. She had entered the industry using a fake ID and a story that hid a much darker truth. § 2257 The September 1984 issue of Penthouse
Represented one of the largest recalls in publishing history [3]. Personal Survival:
Unable to get a legal job due to her age, she enlisted the help of a friend to obtain a fake ID that listed her birth year as 1965, making her 18 or 19 years old. It was at this moment that she chose her famous stage name, "Traci," from a preferred first name, and "Lords" from the surname of actor Jack Lord, star of the TV show Hawaii Five-O .