Take a closer look at some of Hollywood's top-tier talent at the beginning of their careers.

Child Stars, Then and Now

Take a closer look at some of Hollywood&#39;s top-tier talent at the beginning of their careers.

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Debra Lamb was born on November 24, 1963 in Portland, Oregon, and moved to Los Angeles, California with her family when she was fifteen years old. Known for portraying a variety of authority figures, Debra has worked with acclaimed directors Kathryn Bigelow, David Lynch, Katt Shea, Paul Verhoeven, and the iconic John Hughes.

Since early childhood, Debra expressed herself through art, writing, and dance. She wrote children's stories and poetry, as well as illustrating them, and wrote a children's play when she was nine years old. At the age of seven, her mother enrolled her in ballet with the Portland Parks and Recreation Ballet Company, where her love for the theater and performing blossomed. Over the next seven years Debra danced in over a dozen theatrical productions with the company.

In the summer of 1979, Debra's mother moved her and her younger sister to Los Angeles, and despite having a very rough start, at times facing homelessness, found a small guest house for rent in Beverly Hills. Attending Beverly Hills High School later that year was a major culture shock, but she found familiar ground by enrolling in modern dance and drama. It was the following year while attending Santa Monica High School, taking dance and drama classes there, that she firmly made up her mind to pursue an acting career.

Her years right out of high school were faced with many challenges, but she remained determined, and a few short years later became a student at the Van Mar Academy of Motion Picture and Television Acting in West Hollywood. After taking acting classes there for over two years she moved on, but continued her studies with other acting teachers, including Victoria Wells, for the next several years.

Debra got her first real break by being cast as a dancer in John Hughes' Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). A natural comedienne, Debra was chosen from more than a dozen dancers to improvise a scene with John Candy and Steve Martin. The scene was ultimately cut from the film, but that comedic role got Debra her SAG card. Debra went on to perform stand up comedy at The Comedy Store on Sunset Blvd. in Los Angeles and was a member of Sam Longoria's The Wild Side Theater improv comedy troupe in Hollywood.

An accomplished author, Debra's stories have been published in Dark Beauty magazine since its second issue in 2010 to 2015 during her stint as a writer/contributor for the magazine, and in the anthology "Creepies 2: Things That go Bump in the Closet", available on Amazon. Debra is also a screenwriter with several scripts in development.

Debra Lamb attends the Marina Del Rey Film Festival at the Culver Theater on June 23rd, 2025 in Culver City, California.

(2011) Print: Comic book series &quot;Ginger-Stein: Rise of the Undead&quot; - Model (United States)

(1994) UCLA short film &quot;Reunion&quot;

(1993) UCLA short film &quot;Kissing Time&quot;

(1992) Print: &quot;Cad: A Handbook for Heels&quot; - Model (United States)

(1990) USC short film &quot;Ruby Dreams&quot;

(1987) VHS box cover photo for Open Lips (1987) (from AIR Video) aka The Temptress (1982) ( (does not appear in film)

(1989) VHS box cover photo for Emanuelle&#39;s Daughter (1980) (does not appear in film)

(1988) VHS box cover photo for X-Rated Bloopers (does not appear in video)

(1989) VHS box cover photo for Nightmare Circus (1974) from New Horizons Inc. (female cover model credited as Barbara Lamb) (does not appear in film)

(1987) VHS box cover photo for Hot Box (from AIR Video) aka Dream Girl aka Sweet White Dream (1976) (does not appear in film)

(1991) VHS box cover photo for Backing in Two from Western Visuals (does not appear in video)

(1989) VHS box cover photo for Satan&#39;s Touch (1984) (does not appear in film)

(1989) VHS box cover photo for The Stepsisters aka Stepsisters (1974) (does not appear in film)

(1987) VHS box cover photo for I&#39;m Yours (from AIR Video) aka All in the Sex Family (1973) (does not appear in film)

(1988) VHS box cover photo for L.A. Gangs Rising (from Impulse Productions Inc.) aka Cat Murkil and the Silks (1976) (does not appear in film)

(1988) VHS box cover photo for Sweat Part II aka Sweat 2 from Plum Productions (does not appear in video)

(1989) VHS box cover photo for Brides of the Beast aka Brides of Blood (1968) (does not appear in film)

(1984) VHS box cover photo for Oriental Treatment aka &#39;Code Name&#39;: Oriental Treatment (1977) (does not appear in film)

(1989) VHS box cover photo for Hollywood Undercover (does not appear in video)

(1990) VHS box cover photo for Fantasy Cruise from Slut Video (does not appear in video)

(1987) VHS video Outrageous Strip Revue from Celebrity Video, also features <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0089067/?ref_=nmwrk">Blondi</a>

(1986) VHS video Strippergram! from Active Home Video, also features <a class="ipc-md-link ipc-md-link--entity" href="/name/nm0262606/?ref_=nmwrk">Candie Evans</a>

Other works

Debra Lamb

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