Holly Marie Combs Biography

Holly Marie Combs (born December 3, 1973) is an American actress and television producer, best known for her role as Piper Halliwell on The WB television series Charmed (1998"2006). During the mid-1990s, Combs appeared as Kimberly Brock on the CBS television series Picket Fences (1992"1996), which earned her a Young Artist Award. She also starred in films such as Sweet Hearts Dance (1988), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Dr. Giggles (1992), Sins of Silence (1996), Daughters (1997) and Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder (1997). Combs currently stars in the ABC Family television series Pretty Little Liars as Ella Montgomery.

Early life

Combs was born in San Diego, California. At the time of her birth, her mother, Lauralei Combs (née Berckhem), was sixteen years old and her father was seventeen. Combs' biological parents married, but the two split up after two years, feeling they were too young to make a marriage work. While Combs was learning to walk, she hit her head on a marble table, resulting in a scar over her right eyebrow. She went through many different homes with her mother, often having very little privacy, while her mother attempted to pursue an acting career. When Combs was seven, she and her mother moved to New York City. She was 12 when her mother married her stepfather. In New York City, Combs attended Beekman Hill Elementary and then the Professional Children's School.

Career

Early work: 1988"1997

When she was 13 years old, Combs landed her first major role in Sweet Hearts Dance (1988), a comedy drama film directed by Robert Greenwald. She portrayed the role of Debs Boon, the daughter of Wiley Boon (played by Don Johnson) and Sandra Boon (played by Susan Sarandon). Her next major role was in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July (1989), a film adaptation of the best selling autobiography of the same name by Vietnam War veteran Ron Kovic. Combs portrayed the role of Jenny in the film, which also starred Tom Cruise. Her other roles included Helena in the 1989 anthology film New York Stories, and Kim Fields in Hal Hartley's Simple Men (1992). Also in 1992, Combs made an appearance in Temístocles López's Chain of Desire as Diana, and in the slasher film Dr. Giggles, for which she portrayed the role of Jennifer Campbell, the 19 year-old daughter of Tom Campbell (played by Cliff De Young) and girlfriend of Max Anderson (played by Glenn Quinn).

Combs' first major breakthrough as an actress came at the age of 18, in the CBS television series Picket Fences. She portrayed the role of Kimberly Brock, the daughter of Sheriff Jimmy Brock (played by Tom Skerritt) and Dr. Jill Brock (played by Kathy Baker), for the show's four seasons (1992"96). Combs auditioned for the role in New York. The casting agent told her that she wasn't right for the part because she "didn't have a big enough heart." Combs retorted, "If you're looking for someone with a big heart, what the hell are you doing in New York?". She was later called back and offered the job. Combs won a Young Artist Award for her performance on the show. During 1996, Combs starred as Sophie DiMatteo in Sins of Silence, a drama/horror television film directed by Sam Pillsbury. The following year, Combs portrayed real-life convicted murderess Diane Zamora in the television film Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder, and appeared in the fact-based drama film Daughters as Alex Morell, one of the two daughters of a murdered heiress.

Later work: 1998"present

In 1998, Combs landed a lead role in The WB television series Charmed, for which she portrayed Piper Halliwell, the middle of three sisters who discover they are witches. Combs' friend Shannen Doherty portrayed the role of the eldest sister Prue Halliwell, while Alyssa Milano starred as the youngest sister Phoebe Halliwell. Following Doherty's departure after the third season (2000"01), resulting in her character's death, Combs became the eldest sister for the remaining five seasons of the show, and Rose McGowan was cast as Doherty's replacement Paige Matthews in the fourth season (2001"02). Combs became a producer for Charmed from the fifth season (2002"03) and onwards. The series ended its run on May 21, 2006. In 2008, AOL named Combs' character Piper the third greatest witch in television history. Combs is the only cast member to appear in the unaired pilot and every episode of the series.

During Charmed, Combs made a cameo appearance in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven (2001), and starred opposite Charisma Carpenter in the romantic comedy film See Jane Date (2003), portraying the role of "a struggling actress whose career benefits from an affair with an A-list actor." In 2007, she starred in the Lifetime television film Panic Button as Kathy Alden, a wife and mother of a single child whose family moves to a "beautiful and supposedly secure gated community after she's the victim of a violent house break-in." The following year, Combs signed a contract with Lifetime to produce and star in the television series Mistresses, which is based on the British series of the same name. However, the show never made it to air. In 2010, Combs was cast in the ABC Family television series Pretty Little Liars as Ella Montgomery, the mother of one of the main characters Aria Montgomery (played by Lucy Hale). The show is currently in its fourth season. Combs was a series regular for the first three seasons, but beginning in season four is now credited as a special guest star.

Personal life

In 1993, Combs married Bryan Travis Smith; they divorced in 1997.

She then went on to marry former Charmed key-grip and long-time boyfriend David Donoho on February 14, 2004. They are the parents of three sons: Finley Arthur Donoho, (born April 26, 2004), Riley Edward Donoho, (born October 26, 2006) and Kelley James Donoho, (born May 26, 2009), all born by caesarian section (with Kelley being an emergency C-section). Combs kept her third pregnancy a secret because it was high risk, with a delivery at 35 weeks. Combs smoked cigarettes from the age of 15 until giving them up when pregnant with her first child. In November 2011, she filed for divorce for her second marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

Filmography

Movies

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Walls of Glass	Abby Hall	Classmate
1988	Sweet Hearts Dance	Dens Boon
1989	New York Stories	Helena	Costume Party Girl
1989	Born on the Fourth of July	Jenny Turner
1991	Nobody Can Hear You Scream	Melinda Ashwood
1992	Simple Men	Kim Fields
1992	Dr. Giggles	Jennifer Campbell
1992	Chain of Desire	Diana Richards
1994	A Perfect Stranger	Amanda Hale
1994	Island City	Erin Sloan	PTEN TV movie
1995	A Reason to Believe	Sharon Digby	Independent movie
1995	Evil in the Basement	Karen Ford
1996	Sins of Silence	Sophie DiMattio	CBS TV movie
1997	Our Mother's Murder	Alex Morell	Lifetime TV movie
1997	Love's Deadly Triangle: The Texas Cadet Murder	Diane Zamora
2001	Ocean's Eleven	Herself	Uncredited role
2003	See Jane Date	Natasha Nutley	ABC Family TV movie
2007	Panic Button	Katherine Alden	Lifetime TV movie

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Guiding Light	Louisa Young	2 episodes
1991"1994	As the World Turns	Denise Jones	5 episodes
1992"1996	Picket Fences	Kimberly Brock	Main role, 83 episodes
1997	Relativity	Anne Pryce	"Billable Hours" (Season 1, episode 14)
1998"2006	Charmed	Piper Halliwell	Lead role, 179 episodes (including unaired pilot episode) Producer (Seasons 5"8)
2010"present	Pretty Little Liars	Ella Montgomery	Regular role (Seasons 1"3) Recurring role (Season 4"present) 50+ episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title of work	Result
1993	Young Artist Awards	Best Young Actress in a New Television Series	Picket Fences
1994		Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series
1995		Best Performance by a Youth Actress in a TV Mini-Series or Special	A Perfect Stranger
1995	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Picket Fences
2001	RATTY Awards	Best Ensemble in a Science Fiction Series	Charmed
		Best Lead Actress in a Science Fiction Series
2002
2003
2005	Series Magazine Awards	Best Television Actress