Top 15 Aussies on US Television

For decades now there has been a steady stream of talented Australian actors and actresses heading to the US to "develop their careers".

Some make it and some break it, but either way there is currently a strong crop of Aussie stars making a big impact on US television and doing their home country proud!

But who has made the biggest impact on the small screen? Who deserves the biggest accolades? Check out TV.com's top 15 list below of Australian stars who have made the move across the pond!

15. Poppy Montgomery

Following a post-school jaunt to the US, Poppy decided to stick it out for the long haul and try to establish herself in Hollywood.

Her first significant impact in acting circles came in the 2001 hit CBS mini-series, Blonde, in which she portrayed Marilyn Monroe and was highly acclaimed by television critics.

Montgomery moved into the wider consciousness when she nabbed the role of Samantha Spade on the hugely successful detective drama series Without A Trace.

14. Dame Edna Everage

Still looking radiant in nearly her 80th year.

The grand ol' dame has been in the public consciousness for nearly four decades now, and has made her stamp on the comedy, musical and acting circles.

Aside from her extensive stand-up comedy shows that have been a mainstay of British and US talk shows, she has also wooed audiences with her frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The View.

A major coup for the fashionable star was securing a short-term role in a story arc on lawyer dramedy Ally McBeal, playing a victimised secretary. Several years later she also featured in a big budget adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby.

Certainly one of the most universally loved Australian actresses (oh, okay Barry Humphries deserves some appreciation we guess!), she definitely needs to be on our television screens more frequently.

Is that the whiff of a CSIcameo in the air?

Watch her shine below on the British talk show, Parkinson.

13. Emilie de Ravin

Emilie made a quick dash from her home city of Melbourne to Los Angeles at the tender age of 18.

While this move often leads most aspiring actors to years of bar work and struggling to pay rent, within a month Emilie had secured work in the teen sci-fi show Roswell.

The sci-fi theme continued for the young actress, who became one of the major stars of the massive hit, Lost, in which she played Claire, the vulnerable, quiet Aussie who was quickly the object of affection for many of the male characters.

Where the young actress takes her career next remains to be seen.

12. Rose Byrne

After getting her big Aussie break in TV shows Heartbreak High and Echo Point, Rose Byrne made a swift move into film-making starring in Two Hands with Academy award-winning actor Heath Ledger.

In the US, Rose made her name more recently starring as Ellen Parsons in the television series Damages, and has also acted with legendary British screen icon Peter O'Toole in the drama Casanova.

11. Portia de Rossi

Portia has flourished in the Californian sun.

Born as Amanda Lee Rogers, Portia entered the public consciousness in a massive way in the late '90s as a feisty, bitchy, blond bombshell lawyer in the dramedy Ally McBeal.

In later years, she has become widely known as Mrs Ellen DeGeneres and for her comedy turns in Arrested Development and Better Off Ted.

Portia has also become a campaigner for greater awareness around eating disorders in the young acting and modelling community, and has talked at length about her own struggles with the illness.