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Poppy Montgomery

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Poppy Montgomery
Montgomery in May 2015
Born
Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue

(1972-06-15) June 15, 1972 (age 52)
Sydney, Australia
Citizenship
  • Australia
  • United States
OccupationActress
Years active1994–present
Spouse
Shawn Sanford
​
(m. 2014)​
PartnerAdam Kaufman (2005–2011)
Children3

Poppy Montgomery (born Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue; June 15, 1972[1]) is an Australian-American actress. She played FBI agent Samantha Spade on the CBS mystery drama Without a Trace from 2002 to 2009 and played Detective Carrie Wells on the CBS/A&E police drama Unforgettable from 2011 to 2016.[2]

Early life

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Montgomery was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,[3][4] to mother Nicola (née Montgomery), an executive and market researcher, and father Phil Donahue, a restaurateur.[5] She is one of six children. Her parents named all their daughters after flowers – Poppy, Rosie, Daisy, Lily and Marigold – and their son, Jethro Tull, after the rock band Jethro Tull.[6][7]

Montgomery disliked school, being expelled from six private academies before finally dropping out at the age of 15 to pursue stage acting[8] and to travel around Bali with her then-boyfriend.[5] Montgomery emigrated to the United States at the age of 18, arriving in Florida to meet a boyfriend whom she had met when he was an exchange student. After five days, she realised that "[she] couldn't stand him" and took a bus to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.[8]

Career

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When Montgomery moved to Los Angeles, she stayed with two of her brother's friends,[9] while sending a head shot every day to Julia Robert's former manager, Bob McGowan, until he signed her.[5] She received several small television roles during the late 1990s, including an appearance on NYPD Blue.[10]

Montgomery's big break was winning the role of Marilyn Monroe in the 2001 CBS miniseries Blonde, based on a Joyce Carol Oates novel.[11] The next role she was offered was a starring role as Samantha Spade on the CBS mystery drama Without a Trace. The series revolved around a missing persons unit of the FBI in New York City. On being offered the part, she later said, "They (the producers) called me up and said, 'Will you do it?' I said, 'Um' and they said, 'Anthony LaPaglia is in it' and I said, 'sure'. It was that simple." Montgomery portrayed Samantha Spade for seven seasons, from the show's first episode on September 26, 2002, until it ended on May 19th, 2009.[7]

In April 2011, Montgomery completed filming television biographical film Magic Beyond Words, appearing as Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling.[12]

The same year, she began starring in the CBS police drama Unforgettable as Carrie Wells, a former homicide detective who is convinced to join the NYPD in Queens by her ex-boyfriend Al Burns (potrayed by Dylan Walsh) after she leaves Syracuse because the investigation into her sister's murder was shut down. The character has hyperthymesia, which allows her to have perfect recall, and she uses her memory to solve crimes.[13][14] The first season, with 22 episodes, ran from September 2011 until May 2012, and CBS initially cancelled the show on 12 May 2012. Unforgettable was later renewed for a second season, with 13 episodes running from July 2013 to May 2014, and a third season, with 13 episodes running from June 2014 to September 2014.[15] In October 2014, after the third season's conclusion, CBS cancelled the series again. In February 2015, A&E picked up the series for a fourth season of 13 episodes. The season ran on A&E from November 2015 to January 2016, and the series was canceled in February 2016.

Montgomery posed in a series of provocative photographs on Maxim's website in their "Girls of Maxim" feature.[16]

Personal life

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Montgomery in 2009

Montgomery met actor Adam Kaufman in 2005 in Mexico while working on the independent film Between, and in 2010, they worked together again in the TV film Lying to be Perfect. In 2007, Kaufman began a recurring role on Without a Trace in the season-five episode "At Rest" as Brian Donovan, Samantha's love interest for the rest of the series. In June 2007, Montgomery announced her pregnancy with Kaufman, which was written into season six. On 23 December 2007, she gave birth to their son Jackson Phillip. Montgomery's Without a Trace co-star Anthony LaPaglia became Jackson's godfather.[17][18] On 10 October 2011 in Life & Style, Montgomery and Kaufman were reported to have separated.[19]

In late 2011, Montgomery began dating Shawn Sanford, director of lifestyle marketing for Microsoft, whom she met in Puerto Rico.[20] In April 2013, she gave birth to their daughter, Violet Grace.[21] In November 2014, she gave birth to their son Gus Monroe.[22] On the 4 April 2014 episode of Live! with Kelly and Michael, Montgomery revealed that on Chinese New Year, she and Sanford were married at Disneyland in a ceremony with their children present.[23][24]

Montgomery holds both Australian and American citizenship.[25] She moved from Los Angeles to New York City in 2013 to continue filming Unforgettable.[citation needed]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1994 Tammy and the T-Rex Party Girl No. 1
1995 Devil in a Blue Dress Barbara's Sister
1996 The Cold Equations Marilyn 'Lee' Cross
1998 Dead Man on Campus Rachel
1999 The Other Sister Caroline Tate
1999 Life Older Mae Rose Abernathy
2000 Men Named Milo, Women Named Greta Barri Noodleman Short film
2004 How to Lose Your Lover Allison
2005 Between Nadine Roberts
2021 Christmas on the Farm Clementine "Emmy" Jones Telemovie

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1994 Silk Stalkings Angel 2-part episode: "Natural Selection"
1995 Jake Lassiter: Justice on the Bayou Cindy Movie
1996 The Cold Equations Marilyn 'Lee' Cross Movie
1996 Party of Five Allison Episode: "Poor Substitutes"
1996 NYPD Blue Lisa Episode: "Burnin' Love"
1996 Relativity Jennifer Lukens 7 episodes
1997 Desert's Edge Mary TV short
1999 The Wonder Cabinet Dr. Sarah Coleman Pilot
2000 The Beat Elizabeth Waclawek 3 episodes
2001 Blonde Norma Jean Baker / Marilyn Monroe Miniseries
2001 Going to California Penelope Episode: "Hurricane Al: A Tale of Key Largo"
2002 Glory Days Ellie Sparks 9 episodes
2002–2009 Without a Trace Samantha Spade Lead role (160 episodes)
2004 Raising Waylon Julia Bellows Special
2005 Murder in the Hamptons Generosa Ammon Movie
2005 Snow Wonder Paula Movie
2010 True Blue Katherine Miller Pilot
2010 Lying to Be Perfect Nola Devlin/Belinda Apple Movie
2011 Magic Beyond Words J. K. Rowling Movie
2011–2016 Unforgettable Carrie Wells Lead role (61 episodes)
2015 Signed, Sealed, Delivered from Paris, with Love Holly O'Toole Movie
2017 A Surrogate's Nightmare Angela Movie
2019 Reef Break Cat Chambers Lead role

References

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  1. ^ Caruthers, Pam (2010). The Birthday Oracle. Arcturus Publishing. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-84858-513-3.
  2. ^ Editors of Chase's Calendar of Events. Chase's Calendar of Events 2014 E-Book. McGraw Hill Professional (2013) ISBN 978-0-07-183091-1. p. 1995
  3. ^ Idato, Michael (14 June 2015). "Actress Poppy Montgomery leads the Aussie charge at the 55th annual Monte Carlo TV Festival". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  4. ^ TV Guide. "Poppy Montgomery".
  5. ^ a b c Johnson, Tricia (11 May 2001). "Poppy Montgomery as Marilyn Monroe in 'Blonde'". ew.com. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Unforgettable's Poppy Montgomery Reveals Her Son's Almost-Unfortunate Name". Access Hollywood. 14 November 2011.
  7. ^ a b Downie, Stephen (8 August 2007). "In the lucky bunch". couriermail.com.au. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  8. ^ a b Hiltbrand, David (20 April 2005). "Poppy blossoms with 'Trace' role". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  9. ^ "Tracing a path to LA". The Age. 19 July 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
  10. ^ Bianculli, David (11 May 2001). "'Blonde' Had Dark Roots". nydailynews.com. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
  11. ^ Martindale, David. "Meet Poppy Montgomery". TNT. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
  12. ^ Reid, Michael S. (12 February 2011). "Victoria to star in film on Rowling". Times Colonist. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011.
  13. ^ "2011 Fall Preview Video-Unforgettable", CBS.com, 22 May 2011
  14. ^ "Poppy Montgomery in Sunnyside Queens". Sunnyside Post, 4 April 2011; accessed 14 May 2014.
  15. ^ "Unforgettable". CBS.com. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  16. ^ "Poppy Montgomery: Girls of Maxim". Maxim. 29 January 2008. Archived from the original on 30 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  17. ^ Sundel, Jenny (12 June 2007). "Without a Trace's Poppy Montgomery Pregnant". People. Retrieved 12 June 2007.
  18. ^ "Poppy Montgomery Welcomes a Boy". People. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2008.
  19. ^ "Unforgettable star Poppy Montgomery splits with longtime beau". Life & Style. 10 October 2011. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  20. ^ "Poppy Montgomery pregnant with second child". USA Today. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
  21. ^ Leon, Anya (24 April 2013). "Poppy Montgomery Welcomes Daughter Violet Grace". People. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  22. ^ Marquina, Sierra (13 November 2014). "Poppy Montgomery Welcomes Third Child -- Find Out His Name!". US Weekly. Wenner Media. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  23. ^ Live! With Kelly and Michael, 4 April 2014 episode, with guests James Franco and Poppy Montgomery. Pictures were presented on the broadcast as proof.
  24. ^ Billups, Andrea (4 April 2014). "Poppy Montgomery Marries Shawn Sanford". People.com. Retrieved 4 April 2014.
  25. ^ Carter, Gayle Jo (20 September 2011). "Poppy Montgomery back on TV in 'Unforgettable'". USA Today. Archived from the original on 14 May 2014.
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