Born:
June 19, 1972
in
Sydney, Australia
Best Known For:
Without a Trace.
Early-life:
Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue was born on June 19, 1972, in Sydney, Australia. Her stage surname is her mother's maiden name. She has eight siblings, five of whom are named after flowers. Her mother is a market researcher, her father a restaurateur. They divorced when Montgomery was young. After leaving school she took a job as a waitress in one of her father's restaurants, but she was so hopeless, he fired her.
Career:
Montgomery left home at 16 to go travelling, and two years later ended up in Los Angeles, harbouring dreams of becoming an actress. She worked at a well-known clothing store to make ends meet, but in the mid-1990s gained small roles in Party of Five, NYPD Blue, and Devil in a Blue Dress. Her first big role was in Dead Man on Campus, in 1998. Three years later, she played her idol Marilyn Monroe in miniseries Blonde. Her role as FBI agent Samantha Spade in Without a Trace made her a star in 2002. Since that series ended in 2009, she has starred in the TV movie Lying to be Perfect, and she will be playing JK Rowling in a made-for-TV movie about the Harry Potter author called Magic Beyond Words and secured the role of Det Carrie Wells in the US crime drama Unforgettable.
Quote:
'When it comes to guys, make sure you are treated like a princess, always.'
Trivia:
She holds dual citizenship - Australia and the USA.