Debra Paget

Born: August 19, 1933
Where: Denver, Colorado

An acting career was always inevitable for Debra Paget, due to her showbiz family. Her glitzy mother was relentless in her pursuit of her children's acting careers with both Debra, sisters Teala and Lisa and brother Frank all following the same path.

Paget started young treading the boards on stage while still in her early teens, before signing a contract with studio giants 20th Century-Fox. Her debut came at the tender age of 15 in the stunning film noir Cry of the City 1948 followed up a couple of years later by Broken Arrow, which proved a huge success. This persuaded the film makers to give Paget her first prominent and typical role as Sonseeahray.

1951 was a busy year for Paget with the release of Anne of the Indies, where she starred as Louis Jourdan's helpless wife and the Bird of Paradise, where she played a princess. She continued working with Fox until the mid-50s, frequently teamed with either Robert Wagner or Jeffrey Hunter.

Often cast in exotic roles such as Native Americans due to her dark Mediterranean olive skin, brunette hair and broody look Paget was a sexy leading lady of the 1950's with her warm, romantic screen image.

However this did work to her downfall as for much of her career she was used as an aesthetic, playing the obligatory romantic partner or second lead often playing second fiddle to more established stars such as Myrna Loy and Jeanne Crain as in Belles on Their Toes 1952.

Late 1955 Paget parted company from Fox, however was somewhat typecast as the Native American such as in The Last Hunt 1956 or as suffering girlfriends in historical epics such as The Ten Commandments.

In the same year she played opposite 'The King' Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender forming a beautiful on screen couple at a time when he even allegedly proposed to her.

The 1960's brought an exciting end to Paget�s Hollywood career. She took the plunge and made a few films in Europe, most notably the auteur Fritz Lang's mysterious adventure The Indian Tomb, concluding her Hollywood career with the elegant horror The Haunted Palace 1963.

On a personal note Paget had three marriages starting in 1958 when she wed actor and singer David Street in 1958. Paget then had a short but sweet marriage to director Budd Boetticher for all of 22 days. After her hat-trick marriage in 1964, to Louis C Kung, a Chinese-American oil tycoon, Paget gracefully left entertainment.