Derryberry was born Debi Greenberg on September 27, 1960, in Indio, California to a family of Hungarian-Jewish descent. Her grandparents were Holocaust survivors. After graduating from Indio High School in 1978, she attended the University of California, Los Angeles and majored in kinesiology there. In 1977, Derryberry was in an Off-Broadway production of To Kill a Mockingbird at Circle Theatre, where she played Scout. After college, she moved to Nashville to become a country singer.
Her first film role was as Skeeter in Hey Vern, It's Ernest! along with Jim Varney, which was filmed in 1987. She was also a body double for Scott Menville in Ernest Goes to Camp (1987). Menville's mother, Dorothy Menville, convinced Derryberry to try her hand at voice-overs. She sent her demo to several agents and casting directors, among them Ginny McSwain who advised Derryberry to move back from Nashville to California and then cast her as Jackie on Bobby's World.
Derryberry was the voice of Clay in the Playhouse Disney segments presented in the early 2000s. In English language dubs of anime series, she provided the voice of Ryo-Ohki in Tenchi Muyo!. She received a Best Actress in a Comedy award at the American Anime Awards for her work as Zatch in Zatch Bell! and for Chica's Magic Rainbow in FNAF World Update 2.
Aside from her work as a voice actress, Derryberry worked on the 1993 film Free Willy as the stunt double for Jesse's actor Jason James Richter in some shots that showed Keiko who played Willy. She has provided the voices of a series of characters, mostly those of young boys and tomboyish girls. In addition, Derryberry has also provided voice-over for Ice Age: The Meltdown, as the voice of Wednesday Addams in the 1990s animated version of The Addams Family, Weenie and Catrina on Oswald, Taz's little brother Jake on Taz-Mania, Coco Bandicoot in the Crash Bandicoot video game series, and Clay in some Playhouse Disney segments.
She has also done voice work for comedic English-language adaptations of anime titles such as Zatch Bell! in which she plays the titular character as well as his evil twin Zeno, and Ryo-Ohki, Yugi, and various other characters from several versions of the anime series Tenchi Muyo!.
Personal life
Derryberry lives with her husband Ian Hall and her son in Toluca Lake, California. She was previously married to Doug Derryberry.
12"Debi Derryberry On Music, Jimmy Neutron, and a New Lullaby Album". Rock Mommy. September 15, 2025. Retrieved July 9, 2026. My birth name is Debbie Greenberg and then I married Doug Derryberry in Nashville and two husbands later I kept Derryberry because I got my first TV series and then I was in Screen Actors Guild and then you have to pick a name and I was already Debi Derryberry and it sounded so silly so I kept it and it's kind of worked for me all these decades.
