Paula Trickey was born March 21, 1966 in Amarillo, Texas, and moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma at the age of 5. She started her career early, and from the age of eight she starred in several television commercials and school plays. At age 19, she won the Miss Teen Oklahoma award.

In 1986 she moved to Hollywood in search of stardom, but, not surprisingly, that didn't come overnight as she'd hoped. Paula spent spent eight years as a waitress before she got her first break. Small parts in TV shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Step by Step and High Tide was all her agents (she went through several) could muster up for her until she got the role as Sgt. Cory McNamara on the recently cancelled bike cop show Pacific Blue. In addition to these roles, Paula has also starred in some movies such as The Base and Maniac Cop II.

In 1997, Paula married Rich Thurber, a television producer.