Holly Mary Combs is an actress who is remembered by a wide range of viewers for her role in the cult TV series Charmed. Here she played Piper Halliwell, one of the beautiful witch sisters. In addition, she took part in many television projects and starred in several films, but without much success. However, the biography of Holly Mary Combs, notable for its unexpected twists and intricacies, is quite worthy of being the basis of some Hollywood melodrama.
Childhood with wooden toys nailed to the floor ...
The future Piper was born in 1973 in San Diego, California. She became the fruit of the love of high school students David and Laurales Holmes, who dropped out of school for the sake of living together. The girl’s dad worked at the warehouse, and her mother worked at the stud farm, although from childhood she dreamed of becoming an actress. Teenage love burns out quickly, and two years later, David and Loralay parted.
A young mother took her daughter and for several years they wandered around rented apartments, interrupting casual earnings. In 1981, in the biography of Holly Mary Combs, the first significant event occurred - the move to New York. Here Loralay married a local bartender and settled down.
In New York, Holly begins to take her first steps towards fame. A beautiful, bright girl with pleasure removed in advertisements on TV and in print media, so she comprehends the basics of acting. She later enters Professional Children's School NY, where she studies stage art with Ernie Martin.
First work
In 1983, a new twist occurs in the biography of Holly Mary Combs - she starred in her first film. True, in the comedy "Glass Walls" she got the tiny role of one of the heroines in the flashback. Two years later, she again appears on the screens in an episodic role in the film “Pleasant Dance of Hearts,” where Don Johnson and Susan Sarandon played.
At the age of sixteen, Holly was lucky to work on the same set with Tom Cruise. Their meeting took place while working on the film “Born on the Fourth of July”, directed by Oliver Stone. He also did not find a serious role for a San Diego native who again had to play in a tiny episode.
During these years, the biography of Holly Mary Combs could well have turned out differently. She led a free lifestyle, stuffed tattoos, dabbled in drugs and alcohol. Only a timely effort of will Holly managed to give up all his "innocent" hobbies and focus on a career.
Breakthrough
In 1992, Holly Mary Combs pulled out her lucky ticket, which turned out to be an invitation to participate in the series “Fencers Outpost”. Kimberly Brock performed by a young girl was madly liked by both critics and spectators.
Holly received the award in the nomination "Best Young Actor", the television project for four seasons was filled with Emmy awards, which accumulated as many as fourteen.
For several years, the girl turned from an extras actress into a cult figure for
American teenagers, many media called her the “queen of teenagers”.
However, other Holly Mary Combs films of this period have little to say to ordinary moviegoers. She was involved in such passing tapes as “Ordinary People”, “Giggling Doctor”, “Purpose of Desire”. Apparently, it was so predetermined that Holly played her most successful roles on television.
Enchanted
The biggest success in the life of the girl was the series “Charmed”. Holly Mary Combs did not immediately receive approval of her candidacy, at first she did not go through a casting to participate in the new project. Fortunately for Combs, for unknown reasons, the producers of the series changed their minds and invited her to shoot.
Holly was originally supposed to play Prue, and actress Shannon Doherty was Piper. However, after the first test takes, the director made a kind of castling and swapped the girls. Holly's third partner was Alice Milano. The series “Charmed” told about three witch sisters who dabbled in telekinesis, moved in time and space, and performed other miracles.
The actress did all her stunts in luxurious dresses and high-heeled shoes, spending fourteen hours on the set. Despite this, the girls had an excellent relationship, they laughed, joked, in general, had fun with might and main.
The series "Charmed" instantly gained the status of a cult. Schoolgirls around the world adored Piper and Prue, did not miss a single series of the project.
New time
After the third season of the successful Holly series, Mary Combs became one of its producers. "Charmed" had an excellent rating and starred until 2006. After the completion of the project, Holly tried to return to the screens with new works. She participated in the pilot of the series "Mistresses", but he caused a cool attitude from the audience and was not put into work.
Holly's new Mary Combs films were not successful until 2010, when she joined the Pretty Little Liars project. Here Holly played the role of Ella Montgomery - the mother of one of the heroes. The first three seasons she was involved as one of the regular characters. However, the producer of the series, apparently, was not a fan of Piper from "Charmed" and began to gradually push Holly into the background, minimizing her appearance on the screen.
Now Holly Mary Combs is not filming so actively. Not so long ago, she took part in the TV show "Off the map", where, along with Shannon Doherty, she told ordinary Americans about the most interesting corners of their vast homeland.
Children Holly Mary Combs
Following her mother’s example, Holly got married early. The actor was Brian Smith, with whom she lived in marriage for only four years. For several years she met with an ordinary school teacher, and in 2004 she met David Donohoe, who worked as a stage worker in the series Charmed. Over the years of marriage, they became the parents of three sons - Finley, Riley and Kelly.
In 2011, the couple divorced, explaining this by insurmountable differences in relations. Holly's children, Mary Combs, live with her, but she shares custody of them with her ex-husband.