Traci Wolfe (born December 27, 1960, in Plainfield, New Jersey) is an American film actress who also worked as a model before, during, and after her acting days. She is best known for her role as Rianne Murtaugh in all four films in the Lethal Weapon series. She left the film industry in 1998 to focus on other things like yoga and hosting her own podcast.

Traci Wolfe: Where Is The Lethal Weapon Beauty Now?

Childhood and modeling career: 

Born in Plainfield, New Jersey in the early 1960s, Wolfe grew up in Richmond, Virginia, where she was raised by her father who was a janitor and her mother who worked at a local supermarket. She started acting at the age of nine by imitating the actors she watched perform on television.

She has no siblings and it is believed that she was not in a good relationship with her parents, as she would have created such a strong bond with her on-screen parents in the movie ‘Lethal Weapon’ released in 1987. She attended a local high school in Plainfield and after matriculation enrolled in a college that earned a bachelor’s degree in 1983 before launching her acting career.

She began her career as a model after her freshman year of college. She came to model life when she was discovered by agents in a department store where she worked as a salesperson and at the cash register. After some time in Washington, D.C. She moved from the US capital to New York City, where she was signed by the modeling agency Wilhelmina Models. 

Traci Wolfe’s acting career began when her agents sent her to auditions:

Thanks to her agents who sent her to various auditions, she made her first notable appearance in film and television in 1986 in an episode of the US television series The Bill Cosby Show, whereupon she wanted to continue her education and learned improvisational theater and acting technique.

Soon after, she was cast in the role of Rianne Murtaugh by Richard Donner for the film Lethal Weapon, a role she continued to cast in all four films produced until the fourth installment in the Lethal Weapon series in 1998. 

• In 1989 she appeared in the sequel ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ with the same cast, while this film’s story follows Riggs and Murtaugh (Mel and Danny) as they try to catch South African diplomats who use their immunity to engage in criminal activities. 

• In 1992 she was cast in ‘Lethal Weapon 3’ again with the same cast, the story following the two cops as they pursue a former Los Angeles Police Department officer who robs and sells weapons and ammunition confiscated from local gangs.

• She made her final appearance in 1998’s ‘Lethal Weapon 4’, which follows Riggs and Murtaugh as they grow older and try to stop the Chinese Triads from trying to free their former leaders from prison.

In 1989, she received an NAACP Image Award in the category “Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture” for her role in the first part of the Lethal Weapon series, which was published in 1987. In the same year she also appeared in an episode of In the Heat of the Night and guest-starred again on The Bill Cosby Show. She was also seen again that year as Rianne Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon II – Spotlight L.A. She then took on the same role in 1992 in Lethal Weapon 3 – The Pros Are Back and 1998 in Lethal Weapon 4 – Two Pros Clean Up.

Later career and retirement:

She reportedly continued to model for Wilhelmina in New York and Los Angeles while filming the third installment in the Lethal Weapon franchise while residing in Maryland with her husband and son.

Since the late 2010s, Wolfe has largely withdrawn into her private life, but is still active as a model. Did you know that in the dubbed version of Lethal Weapon, Wolfe is dubbed by a person who is ten years her junior: Julia Haacke? 

Where is she now? 

After her adventure in the movie industry ended, Traci became an entrepreneur and started practicing yoga, eventually earning her certification to become an instructor, working at Yogiventure, and believing that yoga and hiking can improve the quality of life of each one on this planet. She also worked as a catalog model at the Wilhelmina Models agency, located in New York.