Debra Paget was born Debralee Griffin into a family of actors. Her mother Margaret Griffin had been a stage actress. Her sister Lesli Gaye Griffin acted in movies and on television under the alias of Lisa Gaye. Her other sister, Marcia Griffin appeared in movies at first using the alias of Judith Gibson, and later as Teala Loring]]. Frank Griffin, her brother, also acted in movies before becoming a makeup artist.

Debra herself was fourteen years old when she made her first film. Using the stage name Debra Paget she went on to a fifteen year career involving more than thirty films that included significant roles in notable projects such as "Lilia" in 1956's The Ten Commandments. That same year she also starred opposite Elvis Presley in Love Me Tender. In the late 1950's Paget made a number of films in Germany for director Fritz Lang. Her last major film was The Haunted Palace with Vincent Price in 1963, but she continued making appearances in American television programs for several more years. During the 1990's she hosted a show called An Interlude With Debra Paget on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, a Christian television network.