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Chronology

1981 - Growing Talent

After four years of dance lessons, Electra is enrolled in Cincinnati's School for Creative and Performing Arts, where she appears in Peter Pan with classmate Nick Lachey. "I wanted to dance on Broadway," Electra tells PEOPLE in 1997.

1990 - Hollywood Dreams

After graduating from Cincinnati's Princeton High School, Electra moves to L.A., where a talent scout working for the singer Prince sees her dancing at the Hollywood club Spice. She eventually gets a record deal on Prince's Paisley Park record label and follows his suggestion to change her name from the more prosaic Tara Leigh Patrick to Carmen Electra.

1993 - Weak Debut

Electra's self-titled debut album is released and it's a dud. Shortly after, she leaves Prince's Minneapolis digs and returns to L.A. to pursue an acting career. Her first Hollywood gig? A guest spot on Baywatch Nights. The following year, Electra begins a three-year relationship with B Real of the Latino hip-hop band Cypress Hill.

1996 - Becoming a Playmate

Electra appears nude in Playboy for a photo spread titled, "Electra!" Her mother recalls to PEOPLE, "I said, 'Go for it, girl!'" This sexy, head-turning spread puts the aspiring actress on the map. Electra is faithful to the magazine, appearing in Playboy in June 1998 and on the covers in Dec. 2000 and April 2003.

1997 - Singled Out & Baywatch Babe

Electra takes over for fellow Playboy model Jenny McCarthy on Singled Out, MTV's Gen-X version of The Dating Game. "There's only one Jenny McCarthy, so I'm not going to try to be the same type of person," Electra says to Entertainment Weekly. The show is cancelled in less than a year.

Following yet another Playmate, Electra joins the cast of Baywatch as the character Lani McKenzie after Pamela Anderson's departure.

1998 - Wild Love, Double Tragedy & Still Together?

Electra first encounters NBA wild man Dennis Rodman at L.A.'s Billboard Live nightclub when his friend grabs her by the arm and pulls her over to meet Rodman. Eight months later, they wed at the Little Chapel of Flowers in Las Vegas, sometime before 8 a.m. Less than two weeks later, Rodman files for annulment, claiming he was inebriated at the nuptials. "It's easy to get caught up in a moment," Electra tells PEOPLE. "You think it's romantic, but then you realize, 'God, we did it in Vegas?' It's like getting a cheeseburger at a fast-food restaurant."

Electra's sister Debbie dies of a heart attack. Ten days later her mother dies of a brain tumor. Electra tells PEOPLE, "Dennis sent enough flowers to fill my entire apartment. I never had a man do something like that for me before. I see how much good he has inside of him. That's what I fell in love with."

Electra and Rodman celebrate New Year's Eve together in Las Vegas, and they are still married despite the annulment filing. "I love her to death," Rodman tells PEOPLE. His sister Debra adds, "There will be no annulment. They will remain married. People don't believe it, but Worm [Dennis] really loves her." Despite their brief reconciliation, Electra files for divorce the following April.

1999 - Back to Work

Electra stars opposite Mark-Paul Gosselaar in The WB's Hyperion Bay, playing a cutthroat, eager-to-claw-her-way-to-the-top vixen. The show is cancelled at the end of the first season.

1999 - Fisticuffs

A month after their divorce is finalized, Electra and Rodman are arrested and taken out of South Beach's Bentley Hotel in handcuffs after police answer a domestic dispute call. Both spend several hours in custody before being released on $2,500 bail. Battery charges against both are later dropped.

2000 - Horror Humor

Electra spoofs teen horror films like Scream – and herself – in Scary Movie, directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans. Electra appears in the opening scene as a foolish nymphet, who is killed when a masked murderer slashes out her silicone implant. The movie becomes a hit, grossing over $42.3 million in its opening weekend.

2001 - New Love

Electra and Dave Navarro, a guitarist for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction, who meet on a blind date in 2000, announce their plans to marry. "It was refreshing to meet someone who still has an edge but also a good heart," Electra says of Navarro to PEOPLE. The couple buys a Beverly Hills house together the following fall.

2002 - Burlesque Babe

Electra returns to her dance roots and becomes a principal dancer with the Pussycat Dolls in a L.A. burlesque dance troupe. The show has guest vamps including Charlize Theron, Gwen Stefani, and Scarlett Johansson. "It's shockingly sexy and creative," Stefani says of the show to PEOPLE. "It's frickin' fun."

2003 - Full Circle & Hitched

Electra, MC Hammer and Jamie King are judges for a new version of Dance Fever on ABC's family channel. Electra watched the original show with her mom, a seamstress who got costume ideas for Electra's childhood outfits from the contestants.

Electra and Navarro tie the knot at L.A.'s St. Regis Hotel in a Garden of Eden-themed wedding, complete with a white snake. She wears a cream-colored, strapless, beaded Badgley Mischka gown, accented by Neil Lane chandelier drop earrings. "It was all about the sexy part of Carmen," wedding producer Randie Pellegrini says to PEOPLE, "and the rock-and-roll part of Dave." The newlyweds share the three-bedroom Beverly Hills house they bought together a year earlier.

2004 - Reality Romance, Lip Luck & Model Behavior

'Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave premieres on MTV. The show documents the couple for two months as they prepare for their wedding. Executive producer Fernando Hernandez says of the show to Entertainment Weekly, "It's the fairy-tale rock & roll antiwedding." Case in point: The couple's wedding invitations, shot by famed photographer David LaChapelle, feature the couple lying naked on a morgue slab as if they are dead.

Electra has a supporting role in Starsky & Hutch opposite Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller. She wins best kiss at the 2004 MTV Movie Awards for her triple kiss with Wilson and Amy Smart.

Electra hosts Bravo's Manhunt: The Search for America's Most Gorgeous Male Model, featuring 16 hot contestants tandem skydiving in Calvin Klein underwear to the tune of "It's Raining Men." She also begins filming Cheaper by the Dozen 2 with Hilary Duff and Steve Martin.

2006 - Sudden Separation & Staying Single

After nearly five years together, Electra and Navarro announce their split, and Electra files for divorce the following month, citing irreconcilable differences. Navarro writes on his official blog: "Carmen and I love each other; we are and always will be best friends. In fact, we are supporting each other through this time. What better way to get through a tough spot than with your best friend?" Their divorce is finalized in February 2007.

Electra says she is enjoying being single and not looking for a new man. "I've had more time to hang out with my friends," she tells PEOPLE. "It's been nice to reconnect and have sleepovers and go out dancing...In my past I went from relationship to relationship and didn't take time out for myself... I'm trying to break the pattern."

2007 - Carmen Teaches Sex-Ed

Electra releases her first book, How to be Sexy, which is filled with advice and tips on beauty, fashion, flirting and keeping the passion in a relationship. "There's nothing sexier than knowing who you are and having the courage to be that person," Electra writes.