Traci Bingham (Julie Anne Smith) was born January 13, 1971, in Cambridge,
Massachusetts. The youngest of 7 siblings, Traci has her diverse heritage of half Afro-American,
part Cherokee and part Italian to thank for her exotic looks. Traci was more interested in
participating in sports, thanks to her older brothers, and she joined the swim team, track
and cross country teams, and even took home first prize at a local fair for pole vaulting
and hurdle jumping. But it was her parents' strict upbringing that emphasized family values
and education, which led Traci to attend Harvard after graduating from Cuyahoga Community
College, and follow in the footsteps of her Ivy League older siblings.
But although she attended Harvard, she was more interested in acting. She got her feet wet by
appearing in plays such as West Side Story, Guys and Dolls and Grease, but it all changed for
her when director John Landis was in Boston, filming Celtic Pride. He noticed
the gorgeous Harvard student, and gave her a bit part in the basketball film, enough to convince
Traci that she wanted to be an actress. Traci put her studies on hold and
headed to Los Angeles, where it didn't take long for her to land roles. She appeared in sitcoms
such as Cheers, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Married... With Children, a national Coca-Cola
commercial, as well as small parts in movies such as The Firm, Tales From
the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, and The Nutty Professor. But it was in 1996 that Traci hit
the beaches of Baywatch, as lifeguard Jordan Tate. The first African American to don
the staple red bathing suit, Traci fulfilled her lifeguard duties for two
years. Her Baywatch stint motivated her to get involved with Heal the Bay, as well as other
environmental charities. Just when things were getting red
hot for Traci with her 1998 spread for Playboy, she was taken out of the Baywatch script by the
time her issue was released. That didn't stop Traci from keeping busy though, as she added
modeling to her resume and has appeared on a slew of magazine covers, and took on small
television roles in Sin City Spectacular, The Jamie Foxx Show, Strip Mall, Malcolm & Eddie,
The Parkers, as well as occupying a square on the game, Hollywood
Squares. Traci has also appeared in the documentary in both parts of Exposed: TV's Lifeguard
Babes, as well as the 1999 film, Foolish and 2000's The Private Public. In 1999, Traci
landed the role of Victoria Carrera in the film and short-lived television series The Dream
Team, along with fellow beauties, Angie Everhart and Caprice Bourret, as agents disguised
as supermodels (quite a stretch). Traci became a one-man woman after her 1998 marriage to
musician Robb Vallier, and with bridesmaids such as Carmen Electra,
Angelica Bridges and Gena Lee Nolin, it was no doubt a ceremony that many a man would have
wanted to attend.
D.R.E.A.M. Team
Character played: Victoria Carrera
|
Alyssa Milano
