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Carmen Electra’s real name is Tara Patrick! Seems a bit like a Hilario Baldwin situation initially.

31 replies

RickiTarr · 25/03/2021 22:09

Am I the last to know this?

She doesn’t even claim any Latina ancestry, according to Wikipedia. So it’s not like one of those situations where mum was Hispanic and Dad was Irish and she later changed her name to reflect her heritage.

I’m really taken aback.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Electra

OP posts:
RosieCockle · 25/03/2021 22:12

What, you thought that was her real name?? I thought it was a stage one. Never mind.

TheLost · 25/03/2021 22:14

Huh? She’s never even suggested she’s Latina, she doesn’t speak in an accent or anything like ‘Hilaria’ does. Carmen Electra is very obviously a stage name, Hilaria actually tried to claim she had a Spanish name when she didn’t.

TheVanguardSix · 25/03/2021 22:15

It was a stage name given to her by Prince. Why are you taken aback? People in the industry do it all the time. Hilaria Baldwin is just an outright fake.

ReverendRicketyCricket · 25/03/2021 22:15

It's a stage name. How can you care about this?

RickiTarr · 25/03/2021 22:16

I don’t think a thought about it very deeply at all, but I didn’t expect her to be English/Irish by descent with no claim made to South American ancestry.

You don’t think it’s a bit unusual?

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AngeloMysterioso · 25/03/2021 22:16

Kelly Brook’s real name is Kelly Parsons.

Judashascomeintosomemoney · 25/03/2021 22:17

And? Big Daddy was really called Shirley Crabtree, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t trying to disguise that he was really a woman.

RickiTarr · 25/03/2021 22:18

@TheVanguardSix

It was a stage name given to her by Prince. Why are you taken aback? People in the industry do it all the time. Hilaria Baldwin is just an outright fake.
By Prince?

So this is a famous story that I just missed?

It shows a lot of progress, I suppose when you consider in old Hollywood actresses like Rita Hayworth had to change their names to hide Latina origins.

OP posts:
WiseOwlOne · 25/03/2021 22:18

Just a stage name.

I feel sorry for Hilaria though. God knows what she was thinking but she's been so shamed, and nobody's perfect. She hasn't really harmed anybody.

kylie122 · 25/03/2021 22:18

I thought that was her real name

RickiTarr · 25/03/2021 22:19

@kylie122

I thought that was her real name
Yes me too. I was really taken aback.
OP posts:
WiseOwlOne · 25/03/2021 22:19

@RickiTarr I suppose the difference is that she never claimed that her parents were from anywhere other than where they were really from.

RickiTarr · 25/03/2021 22:23

[quote WiseOwlOne]@RickiTarr I suppose the difference is that she never claimed that her parents were from anywhere other than where they were really from.[/quote]
Yes that’s fair and seems to be true (well it seems to be from what I’ve read).

There is a big difference in intent, and neither of them killed anyone anyway.

I was just very surprised, and maybe a little bit worried about cultural appropriation, but also just taken aback that she looks more South American than Irish, or is that the power of suggestion?

OP posts:
RickiTarr · 25/03/2021 22:29

The Prince story for anyone else who is interested.

www.billboard.com/articles/news/7341607/prince-protege-carmen-electra-always-love-him

OP posts:
Pollypocket89 · 25/03/2021 22:38

Cultural appropriation... Of what culture, the adult entertainment industry? Grin

GreenSlide · 26/03/2021 04:14

Is Carmen Electra a traditional Latina name then or Confused

orpah · 26/03/2021 04:33

Carmen Electra has never presented herself as Latina, nor does her name suggest she is, nor does she look it Confused

BlackCatShadow · 26/03/2021 04:33

I guess the OP means the Carmen bit. I think it's a common enough name. My friend called her baby Erin, even though they aren't Irish and I know a Chloe who isn't French. I don't see it as cultural appropriation when a name is so widely used.

orpah · 26/03/2021 04:35

i was just very surprised, and maybe a little bit worried about cultural appropriation

?! Where is the cultural appropriation you’re ‘worried’ about?! 😂

LaBellina · 26/03/2021 04:37

Electra isn’t even a Spanish name - it derives from a Greek Goddess so technically it’s Greek. Obviously the name Carmen is but I never thought that she presented herself as being Latina, it’s very much a ‘stage name’ and the image of her that pops up in my head is busty blonde - a bit like Pamela Anderson’s twin.

Prokupatuscrakedatus · 26/03/2021 07:31

Carmen is a girls name of Spanish origin linked to Mount Carmel totally normal in dozends of countries (though more among catholics or opera lovers).

RickiTarr · 26/03/2021 12:59

@LaBellina

Electra isn’t even a Spanish name - it derives from a Greek Goddess so technically it’s Greek. Obviously the name Carmen is but I never thought that she presented herself as being Latina, it’s very much a ‘stage name’ and the image of her that pops up in my head is busty blonde - a bit like Pamela Anderson’s twin.
I suppose if I had thought about it much I might have concluded that Electra was a stage name but I had her pegged as Latina and the Carmen thing seemed to fit.

I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen her in anything, only gossipy news stories or hearing her mentioned as a pin up.

Somehow knowing Prince was involved suddenly makes it all makes much more sense though. Grin

OP posts:
LaBellina · 26/03/2021 13:55

I also don’t know how she got famous in the first place - now that I think of it wasn’t she a Penthouse model?

I do remember her being in the news a few years ago because she appearently married Dennis Rodman (anyone remember him?) in Las Vegas I think and divorced him in no time.

Gerla · 26/03/2021 14:00

I opened this thread thinking it was about Carmen Miranda and was quite surprised. Grin

RickiTarr · 26/03/2021 14:16

My grandfather used to show me Carmen Miranda films. I think she and Veronica Lake were his particular favourites. Smile

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