Poppy Montgomery

Poppy Montgomery (born Poppy Petal Emma Elizabeth Deveraux Donahue; June 15, 1972) 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.

Montgomery was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to mother Nicola (née Montgomery), an executive and market researcher, and father Phil Donahue, a restaurateur. 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.

Montgomery disliked school, being 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. 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 realized that "[she] couldn't stand him" and took a bus to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career.