At the age of 15, she was living with her mother's ex-boyfriend, Roger. Posing as her stepfather,
he helped her respond to classified ads requesting models. Using a
false ID provided by Roger that stated she was 20 rather than 15,[5] she started in the porn industry with Jim South at the World Modeling Agency in Sherman Oaks, under the name Kristie Elizabeth Nussman.[4]
Shortly after, she was modeling for widely distributed adult magazines, most notably Penthouse, in the same September 1984 issue that exposed Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams. She quickly ventured into adult movies. Her first movie was What Gets Me Hot!, followed by Those Young Girls and Talk Dirty To Me Part III,
all made in the first half of 1984. By the time she was 18, she had
appeared in 100 adult films; however, Lords argued in her autobiography
that about 80 of those films were composed from leftover and re-edited
footage from 21 of her original films.[6]
In May 1986, authorities discovered she had been underage while
making pornographic movies and arrested her, as well as the owners of
her movie agency and X-Citement Video, Inc. (See United States v. X-Citement Video.)
The ensuing prosecution against the agencies cost the pornographic film
and distribution industry millions of dollars, as they were obliged by
law to remove hundreds of thousands of her videotapes, films and
magazines from store shelves to avoid the risk of prosecution for
trafficking in child pornography.
(The legality varies with countries: For example, while it is illegal
in France to produce a pornographic film involving an actor under 18,
the film remains legal.[7])
In her book, Lords suggested hypocrisy on the part of the movie
producers and the news media, arguing the porn industry actually got
richer from the publicity of the scandal, even as they complained of
losing money after destroying her illegal movies. Lords felt she was
also exploited by the reporters, who used censored stills from her
unlawful films. Lords herself was never charged with a crime. Instead,
the agents and producers who accepted her false IDs were charged, and
people affiliated with the films in question experienced legal troubles
for years.
Lords received a salary for her appearances in X-rated movies. According to her autobiography, she received $35,000 as total salary for all of those movies, including the $5,000 for her appearance in Penthouse.
For her last few films, she and her boyfriend formed the Traci Lords
Company, where he co-produced and directed the movies. Lords received a
smaller salary, but also received part of the rights of these movies.
Only one of these films, Traci, I Love You,
was produced after her eighteenth birthday, making it the only one
legally available in the United States. (However, in non-US
jurisdictions where the age of consent is lower, as well as over the
Internet, her earlier films continue to be distributed.) While most of
her pre-18 films were removed permanently from distribution in the
United States at least one, New Wave Hookers, was simply reedited to replace Lords' footage with that of an of-age actor (Taija Rae in this case) and reissued.[8]
After her arrest, Lords sold her rights to this film for $100,000.
This action led to claims that Lords herself had tipped off the
authorities to gain immunity from prosecution, while profiting from the
movie. [6]
Lords denies this notion in her autobiography, and claims she was
reluctant to sell the rights, since at that time she was trying to
become a mainstream actress, and wanted no older movies still
available. Also, she wrote that she knew nothing of people's real names
or who produced which film, and did not provide such information to the
FBI.
The FBI agents "appeared annoyed" when she could not provide the
information they wanted. She said the agents claimed to have monitored
her for three years.[6]
Government prosecutors declared Lords was a victim of a manipulative
industry, maintaining she was drugged and made to do non-consensual
acts. But industry insiders, like Ron Jeremy, Ginger Lynn and Tom Byron,
say they never saw her use drugs, and insist that she was always fully
aware of her actions. One of her co-workers from that time, Christy Canyon,
has gone so far as to say about Lords' autobiography: "I think her book
could have been fabulous, except that she was lying throughout the
whole thing."[9]
While Lords decries the pornographic film industry, she continues to use the stage name she gave herself as a minor, and ultimately made it her legal name.
She wrote, "I chose to stop running from it. Instead, I won it, legally
changing my name to Traci Elizabeth Lords. That's who I was, and that's
who I was going to be."[6] Lords stated she is not trying to deny her past, telling Oprah Winfrey: "I found you can run, but you cannot hide."[10]
Lords returned to the music scene in 2004 with a new, independently produced recording, the double A-side "Sunshine."
In 2003, she published her autobiography, Traci Lords: Underneath It All (ISBN 0-06-050820-5), which made the New York Times bestseller list. In December 2003, Lords wrote and directed a short film with Fox Searchlab entitled Sweet Pea,
released and shown at film festivals in 2005. The film is loosely
inspired by an experience recounted in her autobiography: A teenage
girl finds herself overcome with doubt after being raped by her boyfriend.
"You Burn Inside Me" (2005 - used for Duprey Cosmetics commercial)- directed by Mike Ruiz, produced by Jeff Beasley.
"Walking in L.A."
(2004) (single) The music video was directed by fashion photographer
Mike Ruiz, and produced by Jeff Beasley for CAYA FILMWORKS. It first
premiered on an episode of "Oprah" during her interview with Traci
Lords.
