Debra Lamb

I first caught actress Debra Lamb on video in a little-known gem entitled The Stripping Telegram: Special Delivery, which was shot in Hollywood in the mid-80s. In it, she played a pizza delivery girl who forgot the pizza but more than made up for it with a sizzling routine that showed she had formal dance training. Her exotic looks were familiar to me and I was sure I’d seen her somewhere before, so I did a little digging and found her featured in the June 1987 issue of Easyriders magazine I had in my collection.

Wanting to learn more about such a striking girl, starting with her last name, I checked magazines stands, book and video stores (these were the pre-Internet days) and found her featured in a now-defunct publication entitled Focus, which included her bio and list of acting credits. That was in 1994 and she has since been among my favorite B-movie actresses. The above photo of her as “Jessica” from the 1989 B-classic Beverly Hills Vamp should save me from having to explain why.

As well as being a personal favorite, Debra is the most successful (if not only) Asian-American “Scream Queen” of all time. Ranking right up there with other icons of the genre, such as Brinke Stevens, Linnea Quigley, and Michelle Bauer, Debra has appeared in over 40 films and videos, as well as done countless modeling gigs. Despite all that, she still finds it hard to believe that so many people have seen her work and that fans and critics alike consider her one of the big names in B-cinema.

Several months ago, I was wondering if I could find any current news on Debra (if I didn’t, I probably would have done a “Whatever Happened to..?” entry on her), and I came upon her psychic healing website. After sending her an e-mail through her site asking for an interview and receiving no reply, I assumed she wasn’t interested in delving back into her modeling and acting past. However, I recently learned that was far from the case. (It turned out she never received my message due to a technical glitch.) Thanks to a mutual friend putting in a good word for me, Debra sent me a message through Facebook, welcoming me to contact her and was very open to an interview, which we did three days later. While speaking with her, she talked at length about her career, the people she’s worked with, her nearly 10-year hiatus from acting, and her recent comeback. Besides having a great sense of humor, Debra was one of the most enjoyable ladies I have ever met, let alone interviewed, and she placed almost no topics off limits.

During our lengthy conversation, I also learned a lot about Debra that I wouldn’t have found out from other sources, such as; she was almost in the Navy, loves to snack on raw onions, has had almost every kind of pet you can think of, doesn’t close the bathroom door when she’s at home, and politics is not among her favorite topics. The following are condensed excerpts from my exclusive interview with her.

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