Best known for her role in the worldwide hit television series Baywatch,
Traci Bingham was born on January 13, 1968, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Of African-American and Italian descent, she is a long-time vegetarian and a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals or PETA.
Prior to Baywatch, she was first seen in the Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch video “Good Vibrations.” After the music video, she started acting in minor roles in television, such as the series D.R.E.A.M Team and
Beverly Hills 90210 , and the 1995 horror film Demon Knight. She likewise had minor roles in some sitcoms like
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Married with Children.
She has also posed for the magazine Playboy in 1998 in a special Baywatch issue, alongside Pamela Anderson and Carmen Electra. She had also worked for the online gambling site Empire Poker, a job that required her to go to media functions and events wearing skimpy outfits.
In 2004, Bingham was cast in the VH1 reality show
The Surreal Life season 2, touted as the best season yet. The show features celebrities who are said to be past their primes and puts them in a Hollywood Hills mansion for two weeks. As if this were not enough, unforgiving cameras also follow their every move. She was the perpetually bubbly and funny cast member who, throughout the season, kept hounding porn star
Ron Jeremy to undress for her. But at the last moment, she'd back off, dispelling suspicions that she's a slut. Indeed, there were no dull moments when she was around. There were viewers, though, who criticized her diva-ish ways. For instance, actress
Trishelle Cannatella who was herself a Playboy model had a brief tiff with her on her attitude, but later on the two got along just fine.
(Photo courtesy of VH1)