# Traci Bingham
**Traci Bingham** (born Julie Anne Smith, 1968) is an American actress, model, and television personality best known for playing lifeguard Jordan Tate on the syndicated action drama *Baywatch* from 1996 to 1998, the first African-American woman to appear as a series regular on that show.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA; birth name Julie Anne Smith[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/) |
| Signature role | Jordan Tate on *Baywatch*, 1996–1998, 44 episodes[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/) |
| Distinction | First African-American female series regular on *Baywatch*[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/) |
| Education | Studied psychology at Harvard Extension School[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/) |
| Marriage | Married musician and writer Robb Vallier on August 29, 1998; divorced January 18, 2001[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/) • [4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/bingham-traci-1968-traci-bingham) |
| Reality television | Won *The Surreal Life Fame Game* (2007) and its $100,000 prize[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/) |
| Playboy | Posed for *Playboy* before her *Baywatch* tenure ended and several times afterward; appeared on the May 1997 German *Playboy* cover[3](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a13372/baywatch-cast/) • [5](https://www.altezeitschriften.de/playboy-1997/362-playboy-nr5-mai-1997.html) |
## Early life
Bingham was born in North Cambridge, Massachusetts, the youngest of seven children of Betty, a librarian, and Lafayette Bingham, an aircraft technician who served in World War II. Her mother was African American and Italian, and her father was Native American. She attended [Cambridge Rindge and Latin School](https://www.edgepedia.org/cambridge-rindge-and-latin-school), graduating in 1986.[4](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/bingham-traci-1968-traci-bingham) She later studied psychology at [Harvard Extension School](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvard-extension-school), a fee-based school open to the public.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/) After a brief modeling career she moved to Los Angeles in 1994 to pursue acting.[6](https://www.fandango.com/people/traci-bingham-59795/biography)
## Baywatch
Bingham joined *Baywatch* in 1996 as Jordan Tate, a character loosely based on the real [Los Angeles County](https://www.edgepedia.org/los-angeles-county) lifeguard Ingrid Walters, including a dedication to environmental causes. She stayed for two seasons, leaving in 1998 when sweeping cast changes were made.[6](https://www.fandango.com/people/traci-bingham-59795/biography) IMDb credits her with 44 episodes across the 1996–1998 seasons.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/)
In a 2012 Esquire oral history of the series, producer Douglas Schwartz named Bingham, along with [Carmen Electra](https://www.edgepedia.org/carmen-electra) and Michael Bergin, among performers cast primarily for their look: "They would look good in a swimsuit, they can do the action, they could swim. They just, as actors, were not strong enough, so we wouldn't give them big storylines."[3](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a13372/baywatch-cast/) Bingham described the working environment as competitive, with a cast of 14 to 16 series regulars at one point and constant fear of being written out of scripts.[3](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a13372/baywatch-cast/) During a 25-year reunion interview, Bingham and fellow cast member [Nicole Eggert](https://www.edgepedia.org/nicole-eggert) disclosed that all the actors on the show had a weight clause in their contracts.[7](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-media-ventures/shows/entertainment-tonight/releases/?view=36889-et-exclusive-baywatch-cast-divulges-weight-clause-in-contracts-during-their-25-year-reunion)
Bingham also said the show had been criticized for having no people of color, and that two or three thousand women had auditioned for the role she ultimately received.[3](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a13372/baywatch-cast/) On the financial side, she stated that *Baywatch* had made her more than a million dollars beyond her salary, through endorsements and bookings, including $340,000 in cash for a single hour of signing autographs in Europe.[3](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a13372/baywatch-cast/)
## Playboy
Bingham's relationship with *Playboy* predated her *Baywatch* casting: the magazine approached her before she joined the show. In her Esquire interview she said producer Greg Bonann asked her not to do a spread while she was on the series, a request she disputed given how many *Baywatch* actresses had posed for the magazine; co-creator Michael Berk countered that the producers encouraged her and that she was never forbidden to pose. She posed before the show ended and several times afterward.[3](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a13372/baywatch-cast/) She appeared on the cover of the May 1997 issue of German *Playboy*.[5](https://www.altezeitschriften.de/playboy-1997/362-playboy-nr5-mai-1997.html) In 1998 she hosted the video documentary *Playboy: Babes of Baywatch*.[8](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209239)
## Later career
Her screen work outside *Baywatch* includes a guest role as a lap dancer in a 1995 episode of *Married... with Children*, a bit part as a party babe in *Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight* (1995), Simone in the comedy *Foolish* (1999), Victoria Carrera in the syndicated *D.R.E.A.M. Team* (1999), Dawna in four episodes of [Comedy Central](https://www.edgepedia.org/comedy-central)'s *Strip Mall* (2000), a voice role as Jasmine in *The Proud Family* (2003), and appearances in *Reno 911!* and *Black Scorpion*.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/) • [6](https://www.fandango.com/people/traci-bingham-59795/biography) She also appeared in the music videos for "Good Vibrations" by [Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch](https://www.edgepedia.org/marky-mark-and-the-funky-bunch) and competed on *Celebrity Fear Factor*.[9](https://baywatch.fandom.com/wiki/Traci_Bingham)
[Reality television](https://www.edgepedia.org/reality-television) became a second arena: she won *The Surreal Life Fame Game* in 2007, taking the $100,000 prize.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/) In 2024 she appeared in the Hulu four-episode docuseries *After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun*, alongside fellow cast members including Nicole Eggert, Erika Eleniak, Carmen Electra, and David Chokachi.[10](https://www.thewrap.com/baywatch-doc-alexandra-paul-90s-gender-roles-video-interview/)
## References
1. [Traci Bingham – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/bio/)
2. [Traci Bingham, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000943/)
3. [Baywatch: The Oral History, Esquire (2012)](https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/interviews/a13372/baywatch-cast/)
4. [Bingham, Traci 1968– (Traci A. Bingham), Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/bingham-traci-1968-traci-bingham)
5. [Playboy Nr. 5 / Mai 1997 – Traci Bingham, Alte Zeitschriften](https://www.altezeitschriften.de/playboy-1997/362-playboy-nr5-mai-1997.html)
6. [Traci Bingham Biography, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/people/traci-bingham-59795/biography)
7. [ET Exclusive: Baywatch Cast Divulges Weight Clause in Contracts During Their 25 Year Reunion, Paramount Press Express](https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/cbs-media-ventures/shows/entertainment-tonight/releases/?view=36889-et-exclusive-baywatch-cast-divulges-weight-clause-in-contracts-during-their-25-year-reunion)
8. [Playboy: Babes of Baywatch (1998), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0209239)
9. [Traci Bingham, Baywatch Fandom](https://baywatch.fandom.com/wiki/Traci_Bingham)
10. ['Baywatch' Doc: Alexandra Paul Says '90s Show Was Ahead of Its Time, TheWrap](https://www.thewrap.com/baywatch-doc-alexandra-paul-90s-gender-roles-video-interview/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Be to Bo*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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