Probably not the only under-age actress in the industry, but definitely the one remembered.

Broke into the Adult industry a teenager acting as an adult. Broke into mainstream an Adult acting as a teenager. Just brilliant.

She knew exactly what she was doing.

She went to school here in Redondo RUHS and was friends with my friend and neighbor Cindy. She kept this a secret and boy were we stunned when we all found out.😮

She was also in a couple of Married With Children episodes

The best outcome of the Lords scandal is that it forced the genre industry to seriously be cautious about verifying age. The industry had previously been slack about that. If you look at IAFD performer profiles, the ones working before 1986 often show "age unknown". Performers who joined the industry from 1986 onward, always have a date-of-birth on their IAFD profile.

Big difference between lying and being fooled, Traci knew .

Traci knew what she was doing. It wasn't drugs that drove her into doing adult work. Her co-workers all said that she was all about that lifestyle....she was purported to having "relations "with many of the crew of her sets and was heavily into "love" parties in her private life. When she got caught (or turned herself in, whichever story you want to believe) she turned on the industry to save her own skin, tossing many under the bus.

Anyone else remember when she was on "Married with Children?"  She played a dental assistant to Joe Flaherty as the dentist when Al had a toothache.

Nope, Tracie Lords was chosen because it is the name of Katherine Hepburn's character in "The Philidelphia Story" (one of the greatest comedies of all time and a very familiar name to viewers of genre films in the 80's). It was a way to instantly make her name seem familiar and attract new fans. (very smart)

The main reason many didn't get prosecuted was the fact that the US government issued her a passport under her fake identity. The government did not want the attention of how someone was able to get a legal passport using fake ID. The cases were quietly dropped.

Back when I was about 20 I dated a HS school girl about 16.  She looked just like Traci.  When we went to the clubs in Youngstown I would often get carded.  She never would.  Worked for us.

She damn near took down the entire industry with her

Wow is this ever timely given what’s in the news right now!

The greatest genre actress that I have legally never seen perform.

She didn't forge anything, it wasn't a false ID. Pisses me off when it's told that way, makes it sound like everyone was falling for a fake ID. She took someone else's birth certificate to the CA DMV and obtained a genuine license. Nobody was prosecuted because she used that same license to obtain a US passport, which she traveled with outside the US. The State department accepted that ID, so no one in the business could be prosecuted for accepting the genuine license with her picture and someone else's name and birthday. There is contention over she came into possession of that birth certificate, claims of it being stolen vs claims that it was given. She is a liar and a fraud, not a victim.

Her scene in "The Grafenberg Spot" (1985) is AMAZING !

Lords was great as a dental assistant in Married with Children. What a hilarious episode.

Man, make a retro about JULIE RAGE, LEXUS LOCKLEAR or FELICIA those women were legend within the industry.

I had an uncle in the biz back in the day and I met here a few times in my youth and she was great!  Still have a signed autograph from her till this day.  Glad she made it beyond the biz and wish her nothing but the best.