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| Tera Patrick |
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Linda
Ann Hopkins Shapiro known as Tera Patrick was born on July 25, 1976 in Great Falls,
Montana. She is an American pornographic actress. While Tera was very young, her
mother moved back to Thailand to live permanently, and her father moved with her
to San Francisco, California and raised her there himself.
Tera Patrick was
discovered in San Francisco by a talent scout for the Eileen Ford Modeling Agency,
and at the age of 13 she was signed to a contract to be a model. She moved to
New York City shortly thereafter and her career as a runway and catalog model
began. At 18, she left the world of modeling and enrolled at Boise State University
where she received her associate's (two year) degree in nursing and a BS in Microbiology.
Patrick then transferred to University of California, Santa Barbara, where for
financial reasons she began modeling again. |
In the late 1990s,
Patrick transitioned to appearing in nude and soft-core features. In 2000, she
made the transition to hard-core porn in Andrew Blake's Aroused. Since that time,
she has become one of the most popular and recognized porn stars in the world,
having graced the pages of Playboy and Penthouse, where she was a "Pet of
the Month" and was selected as "Pet of the Year" runner-up, as
well as having appeared in more than seventy adult features. Tera is noted for
her sultry voice and her aroused and enthusiastic portrayals of sex. Because of
this, she has won several awards from the adult-movie business organizations.
Today, she hosts the popular webcast The Tera Patrick Show and she is active in
the adult film community, raising money for both the Free Speech Coalition and
A.I.M Healthcare.
Tera has been a frequent
and favorite guest of Howard Stern on his TV and radio programs. She was featured
on the cover of the July 2006 edition of the more mainstream FHM, revealing candid
details in an interview inside. Patrick, who had been named one of FHM's 100 sexiest
women, was the first porn star to grace the cover.
In December of 2002,
she severed ties with Digital Playground, and brought suit against them, contending
she was not paid for her appearance in several Digital Playground productions.
Digital Playground's countersuit contended that it owns exclusive rights to the
name "Tera Patrick," and that she is signed up to produce adult entertainment
only for them until January 2008. Despite her ongoing lawsuits with Digital Playground,
Patrick signed a two-year exclusive contract with Vivid Video in December 2003.
In 2003, Tera became
the masthead publisher of Genesis magazine, a popular men's magazine which subtitles
itself, "The Home of Porn's Hottest Stars." Since she has signed the
contract with Genesis, Patrick has graced the cover of seven issues of the publication.
On January 9, 2004,
Patrick married Evan Seinfeld, a singer/bassist for the hardcore heavy metal band
Biohazard and an actor best known for his appearance in the series Oz. They married
privately in a small ceremony. Even though Patrick is a porn star, the two were
in a monogamous relationship for the past 3 years. Just recently, November, 2006,
Patrick starred in a Vivid/Teravision production titled "Tera Patrick's Fashion
Underground" where she performed with Jean Val Jean and Tommy Gunn. In the
same film her husband, under the name Spyder Jonez, performed with Lanny Barby.
This would be the first time in 3 years that the two have performed on screen
with other stars. The two have made five movies for Vivid and ten for Teravision
(with Seinfeld appearing under the name "Spyder Jonez").
In 2005 Tera and
Evan launched a talent agency representing models and actors/actresses. According
to a quote on the agency's website, Tera's goal, "is to help girls (and guys)
in the business to be treated with respect, and realize their true potential..."
She also owns a production company called "Teravision," which along
with Vivid Video released its first feature, "Desperate," starring Tera
and Evan. In April 2006 it was announced that she would host the Exxxotica Miami
convention.
Patrick appeared
alongside her husband Evan Seinfeld in the 2006 reality television show SuperGroup
on the U.S. channel VH1.
She also lent her
voice to an animated version of herself on the late-night animated television
show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Tera's name is derived
from the given name (Tara Patrick) of actress Carmen Electra.
To date, Tera has
not appeared in any scenes with black male costars. In an interview with Howard
Stern she said that this is not because she does not like black men, but because
it would be detrimental to her career.
In an interview with
the Adult Film Database, in February of 2007, Tera Patrick stated she will only
continue to work in front of the camera for two more years, but plans on releasing
her starring adult titles over the next decade.
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