Debra Lawrance was born in Melbourne, Victoria and was the second youngest out of six children. In 1974 Lawrance studied at the NIDA along with Mel Gibson, Steve Bisley, Judy Davis and Robert Menzies.
After graduating in 1977, Lawrance appeared in a number of roles including Prue Waterman in The Sullivans (1976), Sheila Turner in Skyways, Kerry Burgess in A Country Practice (1982), Lisa in Bellamy (1981) and Lisa Cook in Sons and Daughters between 1983 and 1984.
Lawrance played inmate Daphne Graham in Prisoner from 1985 to 1986 having played minor roles as a Nurse and Trainee Prisoner Officer Sally Dean much earlier in the series.
In July 1990 Lawrance joined the cast of Home and Away, taking over the role of Pippa Fletcher (later Ross) from Vanessa Downing. Lawrance left the main cast in 1998, but she has frequently returned to guest star.
She met her husband Dennis Coard when he was cast as Pippa's second husband on Home and Away as character Michael Ross. They married in 1992 and have two children a son and a daughter: Grace (born 1992) and william (born 1999).
Lawrance had a recurring role as Reverend Grace Curtis, Tom Croydon's ill-fated wife on Blue Heelers from 2001 to 2004.
Debra's theatre credits include the London tour of Jack Davis' No Sugar, the role of Vi in the Melbourne Theatre Company production of The Memory of Water, and most recently the 2009 tour of Steel Magnolias in the role of M'lyn; and the title role in the 2010 tour of Driving Miss Daisy.
From 2013 to 2016, Lawrance played Rose, the mother of the title character portrayed by Josh Thomas, in the comedy drama Please Like Me. She appeared in a main role in all four seasons of the show, which saw her character deal with divorce and mental illness. Lawrance's performance was met with critical acclaim, winning her an AACTA Award for Best Performance in a Television Comedy for her part in a two-hander episode (with Thomas) in the show's second season.
