Debra Paget facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Debra Paget
Paget in 1958
Born	Debralee Griffin (1933-08-19) August 19, 1933 (age 91) Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1948–1965
Spouse(s)	David Street ​ ​ (m. 1958; div. 1958)​ Budd Boetticher ​ ​ (m. 1960; div. 1961)​ Louis Ling-Chieh Kung ​ ​ (m. 1962; div. 1980)​
Children	1
Relatives	Lisa Gaye (sister) Teala Loring (sister)

Debra Paget (born Debralee Griffin; August 19, 1933) is a retired American actress. She is well-known for her roles in big movies like The Ten Commandments (1956). She also starred in Elvis Presley's first movie, Love Me Tender (1956). Another famous role was her snake dance scene in The Indian Tomb (1959).

Early Life and Family

Debra Paget was born in Denver, Colorado. She was one of five children. Her mother, Margaret Allen, was a former actress. Her father, Frank Henry Griffin, was a painter. In the 1930s, her family moved to Los Angeles, California. They wanted to be closer to the movie industry.

Debra started attending the Hollywood Professional School when she was 11. Her mother wanted Debra and her siblings to work in show business. Three of Debra's siblings also became actors. They were Marcia (known as Teala Loring), Leslie (known as Lisa Gaye), and Frank (Ruell Shayne).

Debra got her first professional acting job at age 8. By age 13, she was acting on stage. She performed in a 1946 play called The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare.

Acting Career Highlights

Starting at 20th Century-Fox

Paget in the trailer for Cry of the City (1948)

Debra Paget's first important movie role was in Cry of the City (1948). She played Teena Riconti in this film. She was only 14 years old at the time. The movie was directed by Robert Siodmak for 20th Century Fox studios.

Fox liked Debra and signed her to a long-term contract. She had small parts in other movies the next year. These included Mother Is a Freshman (1949), It Happens Every Spring (1949), and House of Strangers (1949).

Breakthrough with Broken Arrow

Debra Paget's first big movie for Fox was Broken Arrow (1950). She starred alongside James Stewart. Debra was 16 years old and played a Native American girl named Sonseeahray. Her character fell in love with Stewart's character.

From 1950 to 1956, Debra also acted in radio plays. She performed in six plays for Family Theater. She also read parts in four episodes of the Lux Radio Theatre program. She shared the microphone with famous actors like Burt Lancaster and Tyrone Power.

Paget had a significant role in Fourteen Hours (1951). She worked again with the director of Broken Arrow, Delmer Daves. She also reunited with actor Jeff Chandler in Bird of Paradise (1951). Her role in this film was similar to her character in Broken Arrow.

Debra was the second main female lead in Anne of the Indies (1951). She was also a top-billed actress in Belles on Their Toes (1952). She played Cosette in Les Misérables (1952).

Paget played Robert Wagner's love interest in Stars and Stripes Forever (1952). She also appeared with him in Prince Valiant (1954).

Starring in Princess of the Nile

Fox finally gave Debra Paget the main role in Princess of the Nile (1954). This was a historical adventure movie. She starred with Jeffrey Hunter. The movie was not a huge hit at the box office. However, Debra received a lot of fan mail after it came out. Only Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable received more fan mail at 20th Century-Fox that year.

Paget had a strong supporting role in Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954). This movie was a sequel to The Robe (1953) and was very successful. She was also Dale Robertson's love interest in The Gambler from Natchez (1954). The next year, she played another Native American character in White Feather (1955).

Fox loaned Paget and Hunter to another studio for Seven Angry Men (1955). Later, when actress Anne Bancroft was hurt during filming, Debra Paget stepped in. She took over Anne's role as a Native American girl in The Last Hunt (1956) for MGM studios.

The Ten Commandments and Love Me Tender

Paramount Pictures borrowed Debra from 20th Century Fox for her most famous film. This was Cecil B. DeMille's biblical movie The Ten Commandments (1956). She played Lilia, the water girl. Debra had to wear brown contact lenses for the role. She said that without them, she would not have gotten the part. However, she also mentioned that the lenses were difficult to work with because the bright lights made them hot.

The Ten Commandments was a huge success. Debra's Fox western film, Love Me Tender (1956), was also very popular. She starred alongside Elvis Presley. Debra and Richard Egan were listed above Presley in the credits. However, Elvis's rising popularity made the movie a big hit.

The River's Edge (1957) was Debra's last film for Fox.

Later Career and European Films

After leaving Fox, Debra Paget's career changed. She went to Paramount Pictures to star in Omar Khayyam (1957). She also had a main role in From the Earth to the Moon (1958). This movie was based on the famous Jules Verne science fiction novel. Debra was also a talented dancer and singer. She performed in a successful nightclub act at the famous Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

In 1958, Debra traveled to Germany. She starred in Fritz Lang's two-part adventure story: The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb (1959). Her role in these films was similar to her character in Princess of the Nile.

Debra also appeared in several television shows. In 1959, she was in an episode of the NBC Western series Riverboat. In 1960, she appeared in an episode of the CBS Western series Rawhide. She returned to Rawhide in 1962.

Paget also starred in Cleopatra's Daughter (1960), filmed in Italy. Her other films included Why Must I Die? (1960), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961), and Rome 1585 (1961).

Her last two films were for director Roger Corman: Tales of Terror (1963) and The Haunted Palace (1963).

Debra continued to do television work. Her last acting role was in a December 1965 episode of ABC's Burke's Law. She retired from acting in 1965 after marrying a wealthy oil executive. They later had one son.

Life After Acting

After retiring, Debra Paget became a Christian. She hosted her own show called An Interlude with Debra Paget on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) in the early 1990s. She also appeared on the show Praise the Lord.

In 1987, Debra received the Golden Boot Award. This award honors actors, writers, directors, and stunt crew who have helped develop and preserve the Western tradition in film and television.

A filmmaker named Mark Rappaport made a documentary about her in 2016. It was called Debra Paget, For Example.

Personal Life

During the filming of Love Me Tender (1956), Elvis Presley was very interested in Debra Paget. In 1997, she said that he had asked her to marry him.

Debra Paget married actor and singer David Street on January 14, 1958. However, they divorced on April 11, 1958.

On March 27, 1960, she married director Budd Boetticher. They separated after only 22 days, and their divorce was final in 1961.

Debra Paget left the entertainment industry in 1964. She had married Louis Ling-Chieh Kung on April 19, 1962. Louis was a Chinese-American oil executive. He was a descendant of Confucius. His parents were important figures in China. Debra and Louis had one son, Gregory Teh-chi Kung. Their marriage ended in divorce in 1980.

Filmography

Feature Films

Radio Plays

Family Theater

• November 29, 1950 - "The Clown"
• January 23, 1952 - "The Thinking Machine"
• February 11, 1953 - "The Indispensable Man"
• December 9, 1953 - "The Legend of High Chin Bob"
• July 27, 1955 - "Fairy Tale"
• November 7, 1956 - "Integrity"

Lux Radio Theatre

• January 22, 1951 - "Broken Arrow"
• September 22, 1952 -"I'll Never Forget You"
• December 22, 1952 - "Les Misérables"
• April 20, 1953 - "Deadline USA"

Stars over Hollywood

• February 21, 1953 - "The Wonderful Miss Prinn"

See also

In Spanish: Debra Paget para niños