Background

Her birth name was Tracey Renee Needham. Her father was a homebuilder and her family moved to Denver, Colorado when she was just eight years old. The cold climate of Denver was a strong contrast to the hot weather of Dallas but Tracey didn’t notice the difference since she was so young. Her father loved living in Texas but he could not turn down the job opportunity in Colorado.

She is the only girl among four children in the Needham family. Being raised with three brothers gave her a unique childhood. When it came to her future acting career, she would have a strong desire for portraying strong female roles among traditionally male environments because of the experiences she had with her brothers. She found a connection to tough women because she had to fight hard as the only sister in a family of three brothers. While she was growing up, she was always jumping into football games and wanted to be treated equally and not have boys take it easy on her just because she was a girl. When asked what made her want to be tough among boys she said "I wanted to fit in but I usually ended up with a bloody nose.”

Education

Needham went to Cherry Creek High School in Denver, Colorado. She completed her high school graduation from Plano Senior High in Plano, Texas. Due to her tall height, she was not allowed to perform on stage when she was in the eighth grade. Instead of acting in her school’s production, she was involved with technical crew.

While studying in school, she was always fascinated with football and was always competitive against boys. Her love and passion towards the football game has helped and motivated her to portray strong feminine characters on television.

After the completion of her high school graduation, she roamed across Europe and Australia to learn more acting skills and also pick up some life experiences. Needham went to Los Angeles in 1988 to learn acting skills and also find auditions that would suit her type.

Career Experience

Needham was discovered by a talent agent during a trip at a gas station. She started her acting career in television by making her debut in Jake and the Fatman. After a series of small roles, she got her first big role in 1989 in the drama ‘Life Goes On’ where she portrayed the character of Paige Thatcher, the big sister of a boy who had a medical condition.