Claudia Wells

Nora Louise Kuzma, known professionally as Traci Lords, is an American actress. Born in Steubenville, Ohio, to a Ukrainian-American steelworker father, Louis Kuzma, and an Irish-American mother, Patricia Briceland, she had an older sister, Lorraine, and two younger sisters, Rachel and Grace. When she was 7, her parents divorced, and she and her sisters moved to live with their maternal grandmother, eventually relocating to Los Angeles. However, she later ran away from home after experiencing problems with her mother and began working various jobs. With the help of a friend, she obtained false identification documents (driver's license and birth certificate) under the name Kristie Elizabeth Nussman, falsifying her age to work as a model for adult magazines. After appearing in the September 1984 issue of Penthouse magazine, she began appearing in pornographic films. Officially listed as 22 years old but actually only 16, Lords's developed physique did not raise suspicion, and she appeared in dozens of pornographic films from 1984 to 1986. In 1986, shortly after officially turning 18, an FBI investigation revealed her underage participation in approximately 75 pornographic films; all but one, *Traci, I Love You*, were subsequently removed from circulation. The producers of the films and numerous other individuals were questioned. Although she received many offers to continue her pornography career, she did not return to the adult film industry and instead pursued mainstream acting. Following the events of her youth, she underwent therapy and pursued acting training. In 1990, she starred in the film *Cry-Baby* with Johnny Depp. Lords also tried her hand at music, releasing an album titled *1000 Fires*. She continued her acting career in numerous films and television series in the following years. She legally adopted the name Traci Lords, her screen name from her adult film career, changing her name to Traci Elizabeth Lords. She has been married three times, marrying Jeff Lee in 2002, and giving birth to a son, Joseph Gunnar, in 2007.