She began her career in porn in 1983, at age fifteen by using false identification (US law states that those appearing in porn must be of legal adult age [18]) . At this age she modeled for Penthouse. These pictures were published in the September 1984 issue (which is the same issue that exposed Miss America 1984, Vanessa Williams). In 1986, it was revealed that she had been under the age of consent during almost her entire career. The ensuing chaos cost the adult industry millions of dollars as they were forced to pull hundreds of thousands of video tapes and magazines from store shelves and destroy them. Many people affiliated with her films suffered legal troubles as a result.

This scandal still gives rise to debate. Lords and her fans claim she is a victim. They claim she was abused in her youth, and later when she ran away from home she fell under the influence of bad people. She separated herself from porn and spoke out against the industry. Lords complains that the movie world seems unable to forget about her past, while they can for example forgive drug crimes.

On the other hand, industry veterans claim she refused to accept responsibility for her own actions. According to them, she came out with the details of her underage films when she started to produce her own movies. By making her old movies illegal, she gained an unfair advantage with her new films. They claim that Lords is hypocritical for having made movies after she claimed to be abused by the industry.

Lords has since attempted to move into mainstream films with limited success. She has played roles in a number of B-movies. Some of her more notable films include Things from Other Worlds (1988), John Waters Cry Baby, (1990) and Blade, (1998).

Lords also appeared in continuing roles in several television series, including Married with Children (1987), Roseanne (1988), and Melrose Place (1992), with single appearances in MacGyver (1985), Highlander (1992), Tales from the Crypt (1989), Hercules (1995), and Profiler (1996), among others.

In the 1990s, she began developing a career as a singer, also appearing in the music videos of other performers and groups, and has become an active gay rights advocate.

In 2003 she published a book: "Traci Lords: Underneath It All".

Acting Credits