Poppy Montgomery

Rated Number 45 on Maxim magazine’s Hot 100 List in 2005, and rated “TV’s Hottest Cop” by Stuff magazine, also in 2005, Poppy Montgomery is an Australian actress best known for her role as Samantha Spade in the hit TV show Without a Trace. She has also posed for magazine’s FHM, and the art magazine Black + White (the latter was a nude pictorial…Thanks for giving something back to the fans, Poppy!)

Poppy was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to parents Nicola, a market researcher, and Phil, a restaurateur. Poppy has nine siblings, five of which (including herself) are named after flowers. Of the other siblings, one brother is named Jethro Tull after the band Jethro Tull. Poppy states that her parents were big-time hippies. Really? You wouldn’t say?

Poppy moved to Los Angeles in 1990 completely penniless. The only thing she had was a copy of “How to Make It In Hollywood,” and an obsession with Marilyn Monroe. Poppy began calling Julia Roberts’ agent everyday. The agent refused to work with her, as she was an unknown, but he did hook her up with another representative. She landed a few small roles, including spots on NYPD Blue and Party of Five, before getting a regular spot on the TV series Relativity in 1996. In 2001, she got the dream role of a lifetime when she was cast to play her idol, Marilyn Monroe in a CBS mini-series. Technically, it was probably great to play her idol, but it would have been more of a “role of a lifetime” if this project had been a feature directed by Francis Ford Coppola instead of a TV mini-series…However, Poppy did a great job, and won critical acclaim.

In 2002, Poppy landed the part of FBI agent Samantha Spade on the series Without a Trace. The show has been going strong every since. She’s currently expecting a baby with boyfriend Adam Kaufman, and she continues to pursue other projects outside of her mega-successful show.