- Born
- Birth nameDebralee Griffin
- Height5′ 2″ (1.57 m)
- An acting career was always in the cards for Debra Paget (nee Debralee Griffin) and her siblings, coming from a show biz family and being the offspring of a "stage mother" anxious to get her kids into the movies. Paget's sister Teala Loring got her movie breaks in the 1940s, Lisa Gaye was a film and TV star in the 50s and 60s, and even brother Frank Griffin (acting as 'Ruell Shayne') landed some film jobs. Paget got a 20th Century-Fox contract at age 14 and her first role in the film noir Cry of the City (1948), her first of nearly 20 movies at the studio, mostly Westerns, swashbucklers and period musicals. Every inch (all five-foot-two of her) the Hollywood star, Paget retired from the screen after marrying a Chinese millionaire in 1962.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tom Weaver <TomWeavr@aol.com>
- Debra Paget was born Debralee Griffin on August 19, 1933 in Denver Colorado. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was a child. Debra's mother was a former actress who encouraged all her children to go into show business. At the age of fifteen Debra made her film debut in Cry Of The City. Her big break came when she was cast opposite James Stewart in the 1950 western Broken Arrow. She was offered a contract with Fox and quickly became one of their most popular stars. Debra starred in Princess of The Nile and had a supporting role in the Oscar winning The Ten Commandments. In 1956 she worked with Elvis Presley in the musical Love Me Tender. Elvis called Debra "the most beautiful girl in the world" but her mother would not allow them to date. Debra's first marriage, to singer David Street, was annulled after four months. She married director Budd Boetticher in 1960 but they divorced a year later. By this time her career had stalled and she decided to leave Hollywood. Her last role was in the 1963 horror film The Haunted Palace. Debra married Chinese oil executive Louis C. Kung in 1964 and had a son named Gregory. The couple divorced in 1980. Debra became a born again Christian and came out of retirement to host a religious show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network. Today she lives a quiet life in Texas.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Elizabeth Ann
- SpousesLing-chieh (Louis) K'ung(April 19, 1962 - 1980) (divorced, 1 child)Budd Boetticher(March 27, 1960 - August 24, 1961) (divorced)David Street(January 14, 1958 - April 11, 1958) (divorced)
- ParentsFrank H. GriffinMargaret Griffin
- RelativesLisa Gaye(Sibling)Teala Loring(Sibling)Roxane Griffin(Niece or Nephew)Frank Griffin(Sibling)
- Sultry, seductive gaze
- Petite, trim and incredibly sexy figure
- Long dark hair
- Never auditioned for The Ten Commandments (1956). The part of Lilia was the last of the lead roles to cast. Cecil B. DeMille instinctively asked her one day to report to Paramount to start work. He had followed her career and felt that "the hand of God" was on her.
- She was pleased when she found out that actress Debra Winger was named after her, since Winger's father was a fan of Paget's.
- She took her screen name from Lord and Lady Paget of England, UK, from whom her family are descended.
- In 1987 she was given the Golden Boot Award by the Motion Picture and Television Fund for her work in westerns.
- Priscilla Presley copied Debra's hairstyle from Love Me Tender (1956) to attract Elvis in 1959.
- There's a difference in the morality [of today]. I don't want to be embarrassed when I go to see something on the screen. I don't want to listen to foul language, watch a lot of violence or see something immoral. I prefer stories with sensitivity and family values; films that strive to lift you up to a higher place in life. Those types of films are few and far between today. As a result, I seldom go to the movies.
- [Twentieth Century Fox] was a wonderful place. It was like a separate little world of its own. I remember the huge buildings full of antique cars, stagecoaches and varied pieces of architecture. It was just incredible, and so much fun to wander through. There were New York, Western and Midwestern streets, a Roman square, the countryside...it was huge, and an extraordinary place.
- [on a sexy seduction scene with Ron Randell in Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961)] This was a very unusual part for me, you know, and that was one reason I did it. It was kind of a veer-off from what I usually did.
- [on having to wear brown contact lenses for her part in The Ten Commandments (1956)] I've worn contacts three different times in movies, but they're awful to work in because the Kleig lights heat them up. I have to keep taking them off about every half hour, but they make my eyes the right color for [Cecil B. DeMille]. If it hadn't been for the lenses I wouldn't have gotten the part.
- I was pleased to learn a contemporary actress, Debra Winger, was named after me.
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