Early life Patrick was born in Great Falls, Montana to an English father and Thai mother; her parents had originally met in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. While Tera was young, her mother moved back to Thailand, and her father moved with her to San Francisco, California and raised her there himself. Early career 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. She then transferred to University of California, Santa Barbara, where for financial reasons she began modeling again. Pornography career 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 the "Pet of the Month" for February 2000 and was selected as "Pet of the Year" runner-up, as well as having appeared in more than seventy adult features. Patrick 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. In an interview with the Adult Film Database in February of 2007, 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. The March 2007 DVD release, 'inTERActive' set the record as the fastest selling Hustler release ever. She is the owner of porn production company Teravision. Awards: 2000 Hot D'Or - Best New Starlet. 2001 Adult Stars magazine: Consumer Choice Awards - Best New Starlet. 2001 AVN Awards - Best New Starlet and Best Interactive DVD for 'Virtual Sex With Tera Patrick'. 2001 Genesis Award - Best Newcummer. 2001 XRCO Award - Best New Starlet. 2002 Penthouse Pet Of The Year - Runner-Up. 2004, 2005 and 2007 - Genesis Pornstar of The Year. 2004, 2005 and 2006 - FOXE Fan Favorite. 2007 F.A.M.E. Award - Favorite Female Starlet. 2007 Venus Berlin Award - Best American Actress. 2007 AVN Award - Best Interactive Movie for 'InTERActive'. 2007 E-Line Awards, Venus Berlin - Best Performer and Best Businesswoman. 2008 AVN Awards - Best Cinematography for 'Fashion Underground', Best High End All Sex Release for 'Broken', Best Interactive Movie for 'InTERActive'. 2008 F.A.M.E. Award - Favorite Female Starlet. 2009 AVN Hall of Fame - inductee 2009 F.A.M.E. Award - Favorite Female Star.