Debra Lamb

Debra Lamb popped into the world on November 24, 1963 in Portland, Oregon, and then—bam—by her teenage years, she’s hustling in Los Angeles. Total switch-up, right? She was barely fifteen when she landed in LA, and, honestly, it wasn’t all palm trees and easy living. Her family went through some rough patches, even flirting with homelessness before finding a shoebox-sized guest house in Beverly Hills. The culture shock? Off the charts. But Debra, being the creative whirlwind she is, found her people in the dance and drama departments at school. She’d already been busting moves since she was seven, thanks to her mom tossing her into ballet classes back in Portland. Seriously, kid was putting on shows before most of us can tie our shoes. That love for the stage never really faded—she wrote plays, stories, doodled illustrations, all of it. By the time she hit Santa Monica High, she’d decided, yep, acting was the dream. It wasn’t exactly a straight shot, though. After high school, she bounced through tough times, but didn’t quit. She trained at Van Mar Academy, then grabbed acting lessons wherever she could. Her first real break? Dancing in John Hughes’ classic, Planes, Trains & Automobiles—improvising with John Candy and Steve Martin, no big deal (okay, huge deal, even if the scene got axed). That role snagged her a SAG card and spun her into stand-up comedy, improv, and later, writing for magazines and anthologies. Just goes to show, Debra isn’t one to sit still—always on to the next thing.