Click Here

Poppy Montgomery

Person Score

 
9.2 Superb
204 votes

Your Score

Biography

Recent Role:
Carrie Wells on Unforgettable
Gender:
Female
Born:
6-19-1975
Birthplace:
Sydney, Australia
Birth Name:
Poppy Petal Ema Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue
Poppy's parents are named Nicola and Phil Donahue. Her mother is a market researcher and her father a restaurateur. Five out of the nine siblings, along with herself, are named after flowers, as her mother named many of them after names she found in the book, 'The Flower Fairy Book'. Her sisters names are: Rosie Thorn, Daisy Yellow, Lily Belle and Marigold Sun. She also has a brother named Jethro Tull. The remaining three siblings have more common names as they're named Tara, Sean and Patrick. Her parents divorced when she was young.





More Poppy was taunted at school with names such as Sloppy Poppy, Poopy Poppy, and Floppy Poppy. Poppy was thrown out of six private schools, for such things as eating with her elbows on the table and wearing the wrong underwear. Poppy legally dropped out of school without her parents' permission at the age of 14 years and 9 months. After leaving school, she took on a job as a waitress at one of her father's restaurants, but she claims to have been such a horrible waitress that she was fired by her own father.


She left Australia for America to be with a boyfriend; the relationship soon broke up. Poppy chose her mother's maiden name, Montgomery, as her stage name. She arrived in Hollywood at age 18 carrying a copy of 'How to Make It In Hollywood'. Poppy once lost out on a role because the casting people thought her real Australian accent sounded fake. She later lost her Australian accent by using speech therapy techniques and talking slowly with an American accent.


In January 1996 Poppy could be seen guest starring in both the NYPD Blue episode Burnin' Love and the Party of Five episode Poor Substitutes. The same fall she appeared in Relativity as a regular cast member in the role of 'Jennifer Lukens'.


In 2001 her dream role came knocking. Poppy had been obsessed with Marilyn Monroe since she was 12, and now she got to play her in the made for television movie Blonde. Poppy was ecstatic and stopped working out and doing yoga in order to gain about 12 pounds for the role to obtain the lush figure of her idol. Poppy loved doing the part so much that she says she could have done Marilyn forever. Poppy was praised by some critics for her portrayal, but more importantly for her career the performance also caught the eyes of the producers of Without a Trace. Thanks to her performance as Marilyn they now decided to cast her in the part of 'Samantha Spade' without her even having to auditioning for the role. The show became a success and seven seasons as 'Samantha Spade' have made Poppy a star.


Poppy is dating actor Adam Kaufman whom she met on the set of Between, and as of 2007 they resides in Los Angeles, California. They welcomed the birth of their first child, Jackson Phillip Kaufman, on December 23, 2007 in Los Angeles, and weighed 7 lbs., 4 oz. Her pregnancy was written into Without A Trace and Adam is also playing the father of her character's baby there.


Poppy enjoys board games, horseback riding, photography, sleeping, snowboarding, traveling and yoga. She also enjoys listening to Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Liz Phair, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and serious music like chamber music. Her acting inspirations include Audrey Hepburn, Gillian Armstrong, Jack Nicholson, Juliette Binoche, Katharine Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, Marlon Brando and Molly Ringwald. She says her mother is a huge fan of Ellen DeGeneres, but her own favorite TV star is Oprah Winfrey and Poppy's also been quoted saying Oprah is a wonderful role model.

From the Forums

More Topics
More Topics

Poppy Montgomery News

More
  •  
    6 Fair
    Fabulous actress with the Australian in her shining through. hide show

    Poppy Montgomery is not only a gorgeous person but a mildly fantastic actress. Everything about her character and the way Montgomery portrays Spade is so real and believable that picking out the words and sentences that give away her Australian heritage away is a mere hobby and does not damage her performance. Occasionally a couple words will slip and her accent breaks through and when she poses a question she ends the phrase in a very Australian way with a slight raising of tone. However, the way her facial expression are so genuine throughout the entire segment is unbelievable and astounding because in most shows or even movies, the actors loose focus and simply recite the dialog that they have committed to memory, but when Poppy acts she is real.

    Do you agree?
     
    Report Abuse
  •  
    8.3 Great
    Poppy Montgomery plays Samantha Spade on Without A Trace. hide show

    Great actor. Very talented. Apparently she has been very goal oriented. I have only seen her in a few other things than Without A Trace, but from what I have seen, she is very versatile.

    She was born and raised in Australia, but she has certainly lost her accent. I don't think I could picture her with any other accent.

    Her character on WAT is quite complex. Though usually serious and melancholy, she is deep and thoughtful. I see Poppy having staying power long after Without A Trace is over. She has poise, and grace but is strong and probabaly can be quite funny. Congratulations on your success, Poppy. And on your new son.

    Do you agree?
     
    Report Abuse
  •  
    10 Perfect
    Extremely talented! hide show

    I first saw Poppy Mongtomery's acting skills in the movie "Murder in the Hamptons", and I was blown away. She is an amazing actress. She's gorgeous and very talented. I love her role on Without a Trace as Samantha Spade. Without a Trace is on of my favorite shows. Poppy Montgomery is a very talented actress for many reasons, one being that she can be very diverse when it comes to different roles. She can transform into whatever emotion, feeling, or character she has to play. That's what it takes to be a successful actress. I don't just enjoy watching Without a Trace, but I also enjoy watching movies Poppy's starred in.

    Do you agree?
     
    Report Abuse
  •  
    10 Perfect
    Poppy is an amazing actress. She is definitely one of my favorites. hide show

    I'm a big fan of Poppy's & have been since I started watching Without a Trace. I couldn't pick a better person to play the part of Samantha Spade. Not only is she good on Without a Trace but also the movies she's been in. She did an amazing job in Between & Murder in the Hamptons. She's extremely talented & beautiful. She has a great personality & it shows. She's funny & carefree. Poppy's a good role model & someone that I admire.

    Do you agree?
     
    Report Abuse
  •  
    10 Perfect
    She is one of my personal favourites! hide show

    Poppy is a very good actress. I admire her for that how she could express the feelings and thoughts of her characters. Agent Samantha Spade is really a good one. She is hard to be acted, but Poppy did it very well. All of this feelings and allusions... Sam is beautiful, sexy, strong and tender at the same time and Poppy is just the right person for this role. She looks like she is really under the skin of agent Spade. Poppy is not like the actresses who are playing like saying "Look at me! They want me to be somebody else and I don't want it!". Her characters are real and natural!

    Do you agree?
     
    Report Abuse
 

Top Contributors

What is a TV.com Contributor?