Most likely the 14-15 year old girls that you knew when you were in high school did not leave home to strike out on their own and if they did, few found success. Most likely they wilted.
Even fewer traveled to Bali to find it.
The absolutely gorgeous Australian actress Poppy Montgomery at age 15 did just that and to say that not only did she find success, but great success, is like saying the Australian Outback is kind of big.
In terms of stardom, Poppy is in Mega status. She blossomed and thrived.
Poppy played FBI agent Samantha Spade on the CBS mystery drama Without a Trace from 2002 to 2009.
Without a Trace is an American police procedural television drama series that follows the cases of a Missing Persons Unit of the FBI in New York City.
Poppy also played Detective Carrie Wells on the CBS/A&E police drama Unforgettable from 2011 to 2016.
In Unforgettable Poppy played a female police detective with an unusually detailed and photographic memory.
With a lifetime story that spans many continents, there of course has been so much more worthwhile before, in between and after.
Poppy was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
She is one of six children. Her parents named all their daughters after flowers – Rosie, Daisy, Lily and Marigold, and their son Jethro Tull, after the rock band Jethro Tull.
Very artistic and creative parents.
No wonder Poppy easily thinks and blooms outside of the box.
With all of those Montgomery flowers blooming, do you know the name of the official Australian flower?
The experts at theflowerexpert.com do. They enlighten, “Golden Wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is Australia’s national flower. The Golden Wattle blooms in spring, – beginning September – in Australia, with large fluffy, yellow, sweet smelling flower heads. Each Golden Wattle flower head is a bunch of many tiny flowers. Acacias are popularly called Wattle.
The tiny Golden Wattle flowers have five very small petals, almost hidden by the long stamens, and are arranged in dense rounded or elongated clusters. The Golden Wattle flowers are yellow in most species, whitish in some, and are widely cultivated as ornamentals.”
It is very enchanting.
You’ll find the golden wattle growing in the wild in many parts of Australia, such as in South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula, western Victoria and southern inland areas of New South Wales.
Poppy chose her mother’s maiden name, Montgomery, as her stage name.
Our beauty disliked school so much that she was expelled from six private academies before finally dropping out at the age of 15 to pursue stage acting and to travel around Bali with her then boyfriend.
Now that sounds like an adventure.
No doubt she met her challenges along the way, yet she seemed to be very resilient.
Given what would occur in her near future, not only did she survive, Poppy began to thrive.
“Resilience is all about being able to overcome the unexpected. Sustainability is about survival. The goal of resilience is to thrive.”…Jamais Cascio
Later she emigrated to the United States at the age of eighteen.
When Poppy moved to Los Angeles, she stayed with two of her brother’s friends while sending a head shot every day to Julia Roberts‘ former manager, Bob McGowan, until he signed her.
Persistence does indeed pay off.
She appeared in several small television roles through the late-1990s, including NYPD Blue.
Her first big break was when she won the role of Marilyn Monroe in the 2001 CBS miniseries Blonde, based on a Joyce Carol Oates novel.
When we first saw her on television, it was as though she quietly exploded out of nowhere.
The next role she was offered was a starring role as Samantha Spade on the CBS mystery drama Without a Trace.
Poppy portrayed Samantha Spade for seven seasons, from when the show began on September 26, 2002 until it ended on May 19, 2009.
We watched every episode and really were pained when the end came. What we really loved was the depth of intimacy that she displayed with her boss played by Anthony LaPaglia.
Poppy holds dual citizenship in Australia and the United States.
Having developed broad interests Poppy enjoys board games, horseback riding, photography, snowboarding, traveling and yoga.
All of this success has also led to the extremely good life.
As shared at the insightful and entertaining variety.com, “A white brick and clapboard-clad East Coast-style traditional in a quiet pocket just outside downtown Pacific Palisades was sold for not quite $5 million by “Unforgettable” actress Poppy Montgomery, and the new owner, so swears real estate yenta Yolanda Yakketyyak, is “Grimm” star Bree Turner. Montgomery purchased the then brand-new house just over two years ago for not quite $4.9 million and first set it out for sale just over a year later at $5.5 million.
A stone-paved front porch provides a friendly approach to the approximately 4,800-square-foot residence that’s tightly set on a street-to-street lot. There are four (and potentially five) bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms over three floors of casually luxurious living space. Matte finished oak floors extend from the center-hall entry into the flanking formal living and dining rooms, the former with a fireplace and both with a coffered ceiling.
The family room at the rear of the residence offers a wet bar and a fireplace, while the expensively stocked center-island kitchen includes top-end finishes and an informal dining area charmingly set into a bay window with built-in banquette seating.”
Isn’t it charming, expansive yet very warm and friendly?
It seems to reflect the life of someone who has achieved, blossomed and thrived.
Poppy has come a long way from her days as a 15 year old in Bali.
You would think that a 15 year old can be very fragile.
Anyone who has parented one of them might attest to that, yet admiring the life of Poppy shows us that like some of the brightest and most brilliant flowers in the world, sometimes a 15 year old, may be far more resilient that we think.
As fans we have watched Poppy blossom on screen and her performances have been mesmerizing and stirring within a range of emotions including deep sadness. One episode on Without A Trace that focused on her character’s personal demons was very unforgettable.
It makes us wistfully reflect.
Isn’t it wonderful that even after flowers bloom and change that they eventually renew and even re-invent themselves?
~ ~ ~
OPENING PHOTO Femcompetitor.com, grapplingstars.com, fciwomenswrestling.com, fcielitecompetitor.com, fciwomenswrestling2.com Editorial credit Angel Alijagic Shutterstock
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poppy_Montgomery
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0599889/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/poppy-montgomery-on-an-unforgettable-series-comeback/
https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/poppy-montogomery.html
https://www.theflowerexpert.com/content/aboutflowers/nationalflowers/australia-national-flower
https://www.tripsavvy.com/australia-national-and-state-flowers-1463720
http://www.goldenwattleflag.com/why-the-wattle/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unforgettable_(U.S._TV_series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Without_a_Trace
https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/resilience