Biography for
Debra Paget More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

19 August 1933, Denver, Colorado, USA

Birth Name

Debralee Griffin

Height

5' 2" (1.57 m)

Mini Biography

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 (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

Spouse

Louis C. Kung	(19 June 1964 - 1980) (divorced) 1 child
Budd Boetticher	(28 March 1960 - 24 August 1961) (divorced)
David Street	(14 January 1958 - 10 April 1958) (divorced)

Trivia

She took her screen name from Lord and Lady Paget of England, UK, from whom her family are descended.

Sister of Teala Loring, Lisa Gaye and Frank Griffin.

Measurements: 31 1/2-21 1/2-31 1/2 (her debut in 1952), 34-22-34 (1954 at age 21), 35 1/2-21 1/2-35 1/2 (measured in 1956), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Tested for the lead role in the 1955 TV series, "Sheena: Queen of the Jungle" (1955).

Third husband Louis C. Kung was a Chinese-American oil company executive and a nephew of Madame Chiang.

Aunt of Roxane Griffin.

Never auditioned for the movie 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.

Personal Quotes

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.

Where Are They Now

(August 2004) Retired in Houston, Texas.

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