» Quick Links
» Disclaimer
Original content © 2002-2006 PoppyMontgomery.net. This is a fan site that has no affiliation with Poppy Montgomery. Photos and articles used are copyright to their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended. Please read the Terms of Use.
» Articles » The Daily Telegraph: Rise of a Tall Poppy (July 6, 2003; by Kathy McCabe)
POPPY Montgomery will finally make her Australian television debut more than a decade after she left Sydney to start her acting career in America.
Montgomery stars in the hit US drama series, Without A Trace, with fellow Australian actor, Anthony LaPaglia, screening here later this month.
A rebellious teenager who was expelled from many of Sydney's elite private schools, Montgomery couldn't even get an agent or an audition when she abandoned studies before her 15th birthday to try acting.
At 19, she left Sydney for Florida to pursue an American exchange student she had a crush on. But when that didn't work out, Montgomery found herself at a bus station with just enough money for a ticket to Los Angeles or New York.
After deciding on LA, Montgomery convinced Julia Roberts' manager Bob McGowan to help her find an agent after reading about his success with the Oscar winner in a book, How To Make It In Hollywood.
She quickly adopted an American accent and was cast in a succession of guest roles in films and television series including Party Of Five and NYPD Blue.
Her profile was given a boost after she starred in the short-lived series, Relativity, but her career skyrocketed when she was cast as Marilyn Monroe in the blockbuster American mini-series, Blonde.
Montgomery was finishing filming another series in Vancouver when the call came from producer Jerry Bruckheimer to offer her the role of Samantha Spade in Without A Trace.
The involvement of Bruckheimer - responsible for blockbusters from Beverly Hills Cop to Black Hawk Down and the CSI series _ and LaPaglia, brought an instant yes from Montgomery even though she was worried about doing another series.
[source: dailytelegraph.news.com.au]