Diora Lynn Baird (born April 6, 1983)[1] is an American actress and former model for clothing brand Guess?.
Diora Baird | |
|---|---|
 Diora Baird in 2003 | |
| Born | April 6, 1983 |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, model |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Early life
editBaird was born in Miami, Florida on April 6, 1983. She got into acting when her mother, who was also a model, enrolled her in an acting class to help her overcome introversion. Later, she became vice president of her school's Thespian Society.[1]
At 17, she moved to Los Angeles with the hope of pursuing an acting career. To earn money while auditioning, she worked as a salesperson at The Gap, a caterer, a waitress, a pre-school teacher and a clown at children's parties, until breaking into the modeling industry - most notably with Guess?.[1] Her exposure increased considerably with an appearance on the cover of the August 2005 issue of Playboy magazine.[2][3] She was signed to Elite Model Management in Miami.[4]
Career
editIn 2004, Baird also started earning acting roles, such as an appearance on the Drew Carey Show and in the low budget film Brain Blockers. Her breakthrough appearance in a major film was in Wedding Crashers in 2005, which she followed up with roles in Accepted and Hot Tamale. In 2006, she appeared in four films, most notably a major role in the horror film The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.
Baird had featured photo spreads in several magazines including Playboy, FHM, Stuff, Maxim (in which she was ranked #76 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2007 list,[5] #64 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list,[6] #76 on the Maxim Magazine Hot 100 of 2011 list,[7] the #17 spot on FHM's top 100 2010, and the #40 spot in 2011),[8] Toro and Esquire (UK).[9] She lent her voice to the Scarface video game as one of Tony Montana's possible girlfriends.[10]
Baird has also guest starred in episodes of Big Day, Shark, The Loop, and Two and a Half Men (the 2009 episode "She'll Still Be Dead at Halftime"). She starred in the movie 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, directed by Ben Ketai,[11] which is produced by Columbia Pictures and Ghost House Pictures.[12] Baird stars in the FEARnet webseries Tea Party Macabre, which is part of the series "Women in Horror Month".[13] She also starred in the 2009 comedy Stan Helsing.[14]
She starred in several videos for the Funny or Die website, including one with Garfunkel and Oates called "Go Running with Chicken" and "Sexy Dark Ages" with Robert Englund.[15] She starred in another web video with the comedic duo called "This Party Took a Turn for the Douche". In 2010, she appeared in Night of the Demons. In February 2011, she starred in a short musical film called "Howlin' for You" for the band The Black Keys.[16]
She plays a porn star in her 2014 film Beautiful Girl. Baird was cast in a recurring role in the Amazon Studios pilot Cocked along with costars Brian Dennehy, Jason Lee, Dreama Walker, and Sam Trammell. The show was not picked up for series.[17] Baird guest starred in an episode of the Hulu series Casual.[18]
Personal life
editBaird was married to actor Jonathan Togo from 2013 to 2016; they have one child.[19][20] In 2017, Baird revealed that she was dating comedian Mav Viola.[21] Baird told The Advocate magazine that after years of assuming herself to be asexual, she identifies as lesbian.[22] On December 29, 2017, Baird announced that she and Viola were engaged.[23]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Wedding Crashers | Vivian | |
| 2006 | Hot Tamale | Tuesday Blackwell | |
| 2006 | Bachelor Party Vegas | Penelope | Direct-to-video film |
| 2006 | Fifty Pills | Tiffany | |
| 2006 | Accepted | Kiki | |
| 2006 | The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning | Bailey | |
| 2007 | Brain Blockers | Suzi Klein | Direct-to-video film |
| 2007 | Young People Fucking | Jamie | |
| 2008 | South of Heaven | Lily | |
| 2008 | My Best Friend's Girl | Rachel | |
| 2009 | Stan Helsing | Nadine | |
| 2009 | Night of the Demons | Lily Thompson | |
| 2010 | Hot Tub Time Machine | Mrs. Steelman | |
| 2010 | Let the Game Begin | Kate | |
| 2010 | Quit | Danielle | |
| 2010 | 30 Days of Night: Dark Days | Amber | Direct-to-video film |
| 2010 | Love Shack | LaCienga Torrez | |
| 2010 | Dry Run | Laurie | |
| 2012 | Transit | Arielle | |
| 2012 | Last Call | Janine | |
| 2013 | Riddle | Amber Richards | |
| 2013 | Concrete Blondes | Sammi Lovett | |
| 2014 | Beautiful Girl | Odessa | |
| 2021 | The Virtuoso | Johnnie's Girl | |
| 2023 | Night Train | Jaylynne Jackson | |
| 2024 | Spread | Xtasy | |
| 2024 | Witchy Ways | Eve | post-production |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | The Drew Carey Show | Valerie | Episode: "Drew Thinks Inside the Box" |
| 2006 | South Beach | Brianna | Unaired TV pilot |
| 2006–2007 | Big Day | Kristin | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | Shark | Nina Lange | Episode: "Fall from Grace" |
| 2007 | The Loop | Cara | Guest role; 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Two and a Half Men | Wanda | Episode: "She'll Still Be Dead at Halftime" |
| 2009 | Robot Chicken | Fantasia / Spanish Woman / Woman / Lady / Girl | Voice role; 2 episodes |
| 2009 | Gary Unmarried | Redhead | Episode: "Gary Shoots Fish in a Barrel" |
| 2009 | Accidentally on Purpose | Andrea | Episode: "The Love Guru" |
| 2010 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Lainie McCallum | Episode: "Witness" |
| 2011 | Psych | Nicole | Episode: "The Tao of Gus" |
| 2012 | Bent | Natalie | Episode: "Smitten" |
| 2012–2013 | Shameless | Meg | 4 episodes |
| 2014 | Franklin & Bash | Cindy Maloney | Episode: "Dance the Night Away" |
| 2014 | Newsreaders | Ashley / Jennifer | Episode: "Strip Club Expose; Long Lost Twins" |
| 2015 | Cocked | Aubrey | Television film |
| 2015 | Casual | April | Episode: "Animals" |
| 2016 | Telenovela | Maria Wilson | Episode: "Caught in the Act" |
| 2016 | Angel from Hell | Brandi | 3 episodes |
| 2018–2022 | Cobra Kai | Shannon Keene | Recurring role, 7 episodes |
| 2018 | My Daughter Vanished | Melanie | Television film; also known as Hidden Family Secrets |
| 2019 | The Missing Sister | Collette | Television film; also known as My Sister's Deadly Secret |
| 2020 | Her Secret Family Killer | April | Television film |
| 2020 | Psycho Sister-In-Law | Callie Hayes | Television film |
| 2022 | Bound by Blackmail | Diana | Television film |
| 2023 | You're Not Supposed to Be Here | Kennedy | Television film |
Web
edit- Tea Party Macabre (2010), as herself; 5 episodes
Music videos
edit- "Howlin' for You" (2011), by The Black Keys[24][better source needed]
- "This Party Took a Turn for the Douche" (2011), by Garfunkel and Oates[25][better source needed]
- "Out of Goodbyes" (2011), by Maroon 5 featuring Lady Antebellum[26][better source needed]
Video game
edit- Scarface: The World is Yours (2006), as Femme Fatale (voice role)
References
edit- ^ a b c Baird at Maxim.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-26. Archived August 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Model of the Week". Askmen.com. April 2007. Archived from the original on July 26, 2008. Retrieved February 2, 2006.
- ^ Miska, Brad (October 2005). "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Prequel: Star Diora Baird". Defamer.com.
- ^ "Diora Baird". Fashion Model Directory. Archived from the original on March 29, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
- ^ Maxim Hot 100 2007 Archived July 9, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Maxim.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ Maxim Hot 100 2008 Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Maxim.com (2007-09-24). Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ Maxim. "2011 Hot 100". Archived from the original on May 5, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
- ^ AdTech Ad FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2010 Archived July 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Fhm.com; retrieved 2011-07-26.
- ^ FHM. "FHM's 100 Sexiest Women of 2011". Archived from the original on August 8, 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2011.
- ^ Stahie, Silviu (May 2006). "'Scarface: The World Is Yours' Signs Five Hollywood Beauties". Softpedia. Archived from the original on March 28, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2006.
- ^ "'30 Days of Night Dark Days' Officially Announced", October 22, 2009 Bloody-discusting.com. Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved on 2011-07-26.
- ^ BD's Got Your '30 Days of Night: Dark Days' Casting!. Bloody-disgusting.com; retrieved 2011-07-26.
- ^ Creepy, Uncle. (2010-01-28) You're Invited to a Tea Party Macabre. Dreadcentral.com; retrieved 2011-07-26.
- ^ "Watch Stan Helsing-Amazon Prime". Amazon.com, Inc. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ^ Diora Baird profile Archived June 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Funnyordie.com; retrieved 2011-07-26.
- ^ "Video-The Black Keys "Howlin' For You"". Kroq.radio.com. February 11, 2011. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
- ^ "New Amazon Shows: What We're Expecting From Its First 2015 Pilots". Indiewire. January 13, 2015.
- ^ "Casual (TV Series 2015-2018)". IMDB.com. Retrieved September 8, 2020.
- ^ "New work of the beautiful (and expecting!) Diora Baird". stephanie vovas blog. December 3, 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
- ^ "Someone FINALLY decided to make his grand entrance into the world..." Diora Baird official Twitter. December 12, 2012.
- ^ "'Shameless' actor Diora Baird comes out". May 29, 2017.
- ^ "Actress Diora Baird Is Lucky in Love". September 8, 2017.
- ^ Thompson, Avery (December 29, 2017). "'Cobra Kai' Star Diora Baird Engaged To Partner Mav Viola — See Her Gorgeous Ring". Hollywood Life. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
- ^ "The Black Keys – Howlin' for You". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Garfunkel and Oates – This Party Took a Turn for the Douche". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Maroon 5 – Out of Goodbyes featuring Lady Antebellum". Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2018 – via YouTube.
External links
edit
- Diora Baird at IMDb
- Diora Baird at AllMovie