Post by kendall on Apr 27, 2008 21:56:20 GMT -5
Holly was born on the 3rd of December 1973 to her 15 year old mother Lauralei Combs and her father who was 17. Holly's parents split, 2 years after Holly was born as they were very young and were finding marriage hard, especially with young Holly. Her parents dropped out of high school, and made ends meet as best they could. (her dad worked at a feed store and her mom got a job at the Del Mar racetrack exercising horses).
Holly was born in San Diego, California but moved to Manhattan, New York when she was 8 years old where she attended Beekman Hill Elementary School. It was then when her mom decided to pursue acting for Holly. Holly's mother held down waitressing and modeling jobs to help pay the bills, while her stepfather--who married her mom when Holly was 12--worked as a bartender. All three lived with Holly's grandmother at one point. They lived in a long series of small studio apartments, never living in one place for very long. Holly says she is now a pack rat because she never had any place to keep things while she was growing up. She also blames her passion for interior decorating on her gypsy-like childhood. Instead of constantly moving, she now constantly redecorates her house. The family was so cash-strapped, they often had to live in cramped apartments. The worst was a teensy studio they lived in when Combs was a teenager. "I had a loft, and my parents' bed was underneath," Combs says. "You could only be alone in the bathroom. I don't know how we did it.". She spent four years looking for the right house to buy. "I was drawn to this house because of the beautiful land. There are no houses or anyone living behind me. There's about 30,000 acres of parkland that won't ever be built on. And that's pretty cool because I own only two and a half acres, but it looks like I have so much more that I didn't have to pay for!". The deciding factor was a large kennel for her dogs. Plus, plenty of room for her other pets. She used to keep her horses at Shannen's ranch, but now has plenty of room on her own ranch. At first, Holly's mother was living in her guest room.
Holly attended the Children's Professional school where her teachers included Ernie Martin, Where other big names like Sarah Michelle Gellar studied. It was there where Holly was noticed by film and TV executives for her exceptional acting abilities. Holly's career started in television commercials and print ads when she was ten. Holly obtained her SAG (Screen Actor's Guild) card when she appeared in 'Walls of Glass' aka 'Flanagan' (1985), a film in which Holly's mother, Lauralei also had a role. Her mother was also guest star on Charmed in the episode 'Just Harried' (Episode: #3.15), 22 February 2001 as a girl in the bar. Lauralei now works as an actress and a singer and lives in Texas. Her stepfather is a musician and her biological father does machine work.
Holly's big break came in 'Picket Fences' where she played 'Kimberly Brock' at the age of 18. Her first meeting with David E. Kelley did not go well. He had told Holly she didn't have enough heart to Play Kimberly on Picket Fences. "I was terribly hurt -- and angry. I thought he was just being mean", says Holly. He then ultimately decided to cast her and rewrote the character to fit Holly's personality when he was unable to find anyone who fit the part. Kelley had to convince Holly to take the part. "Suddenly, he can't find anyone else and now I'm right for the part. Sorry!" He had to keep asking Holly for a couple of weeks before she finally agreed. "I had quite an attitude going" says Holly. It was this part which made Holly into a house hold name. It was a highly successful series - the show won fourteen Emmys in four years. Holly was nominated for two SAG Awards, along with the rest of the Picket Fences cast, for best ensemble acting in a television drama. Her performance on the show earnt her Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a New Television Series in 1993. When the series ended, Holly then went on and starred in many other movies (see filmography). Holly is now enjoying the huge success of the TV series, 'Charmed', now in it's 6th season playing Piper Halliwell. She's also a Producer in Charmed from season 5, along with co star, Alyssa Milano.
Holly married Bryan 'Bugsy' Smith in 1993, and then divorced in 1997, afterwards Holly said they were too young to cope, just like her parents were. They only went out for 8 days before they got married. (In a Las Vegas chapel). She then dated Brian Bouma. He worked on the crew for 'Our Mother's Murder'. A few years later, she then got engaged to Storm Lyndon (who is a second grade school teacher from Venice Beach and He teaches in South Central L.A) but she called off the engagement in late 2000. They met while on a holiday in Mexico in a bar/restaurant with Charmed ex co-star and best friend, Shannen Doherty. She currently lives with her husband, David Donoho, who used to work as a Key Grip on the set of Charmed. They got married on February 14th, 2004 on valentines day. “We decided to make it about our commitment to our new family” says David, referring to the baby boy they had named Finley Arthur Donoho on April 26th, 2004. "We had kind of a deadline, so we decided to do it real quick," says Holly, "We got married at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara. Yes, I pulled a Gwyneth. I know, it wasn't original, but it was quick!"
Holly currently lives in the Bell Canyon area which is located in the San Fernando Valley in California, in a Spanish style, three bedroom house with all of her pets and husband, David.
Holly supports the charity 'Thursday's child' because she remembers herself as a troubled child, She was often mean to her mum, punished by her teachers and dressed in black. She didn't have a good time in high school. "I kind of had a problem with authority, I wasn't very outgoing. I was shy. It was a tough time for me". Nowadays Holly is a very down to earth person. Holly says she is not into the whole Hollywood scene. The simple pleasures in life suit her just fine. She is also the official spokesperson for the Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.
Her favorite food is Italian-"Pretty much all kinds". She also loves Cheeseburgers, Coca Krispies, Salami, and Bacon. Her Hobbies include, Horseback riding, gardening & collecting antiques. She loves to play Scrabble as well as other games like Trivial Pursuit, Beyond Balderdash, Monopoly and the Worst-Case. And she has a lot of pets! She has Three quarter horses: Jesse, Jake, and Jezebel; five dogs: (two of them are her husband’s) Hugo, Travis, Sugar, Thunder and Lola (Lola was given to her by Alyssa's mum); three cats: Blue and Selina (named after Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman) and ?; two lovebirds: Lollipop and Flower. Holly also has four rabbits, and koi fish! She did have a a turtle but she had to get rid of it when she had the baby because of a salmonella risk, so it went to a nice big pond in her friend’s backyard. She also use to have 2 physically challenged hamsters, one was very fat and one only has 3 legs. The hamsters were once classroom pets of Storm Lyndon's and they went home in the summer break. When she was younger she had a Siberian husky, named Wiley, which was given to her by Actor, Don Johnson.
Holly was born in San Diego, California but moved to Manhattan, New York when she was 8 years old where she attended Beekman Hill Elementary School. It was then when her mom decided to pursue acting for Holly. Holly's mother held down waitressing and modeling jobs to help pay the bills, while her stepfather--who married her mom when Holly was 12--worked as a bartender. All three lived with Holly's grandmother at one point. They lived in a long series of small studio apartments, never living in one place for very long. Holly says she is now a pack rat because she never had any place to keep things while she was growing up. She also blames her passion for interior decorating on her gypsy-like childhood. Instead of constantly moving, she now constantly redecorates her house. The family was so cash-strapped, they often had to live in cramped apartments. The worst was a teensy studio they lived in when Combs was a teenager. "I had a loft, and my parents' bed was underneath," Combs says. "You could only be alone in the bathroom. I don't know how we did it.". She spent four years looking for the right house to buy. "I was drawn to this house because of the beautiful land. There are no houses or anyone living behind me. There's about 30,000 acres of parkland that won't ever be built on. And that's pretty cool because I own only two and a half acres, but it looks like I have so much more that I didn't have to pay for!". The deciding factor was a large kennel for her dogs. Plus, plenty of room for her other pets. She used to keep her horses at Shannen's ranch, but now has plenty of room on her own ranch. At first, Holly's mother was living in her guest room.
Holly attended the Children's Professional school where her teachers included Ernie Martin, Where other big names like Sarah Michelle Gellar studied. It was there where Holly was noticed by film and TV executives for her exceptional acting abilities. Holly's career started in television commercials and print ads when she was ten. Holly obtained her SAG (Screen Actor's Guild) card when she appeared in 'Walls of Glass' aka 'Flanagan' (1985), a film in which Holly's mother, Lauralei also had a role. Her mother was also guest star on Charmed in the episode 'Just Harried' (Episode: #3.15), 22 February 2001 as a girl in the bar. Lauralei now works as an actress and a singer and lives in Texas. Her stepfather is a musician and her biological father does machine work.
Holly's big break came in 'Picket Fences' where she played 'Kimberly Brock' at the age of 18. Her first meeting with David E. Kelley did not go well. He had told Holly she didn't have enough heart to Play Kimberly on Picket Fences. "I was terribly hurt -- and angry. I thought he was just being mean", says Holly. He then ultimately decided to cast her and rewrote the character to fit Holly's personality when he was unable to find anyone who fit the part. Kelley had to convince Holly to take the part. "Suddenly, he can't find anyone else and now I'm right for the part. Sorry!" He had to keep asking Holly for a couple of weeks before she finally agreed. "I had quite an attitude going" says Holly. It was this part which made Holly into a house hold name. It was a highly successful series - the show won fourteen Emmys in four years. Holly was nominated for two SAG Awards, along with the rest of the Picket Fences cast, for best ensemble acting in a television drama. Her performance on the show earnt her Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress in a New Television Series in 1993. When the series ended, Holly then went on and starred in many other movies (see filmography). Holly is now enjoying the huge success of the TV series, 'Charmed', now in it's 6th season playing Piper Halliwell. She's also a Producer in Charmed from season 5, along with co star, Alyssa Milano.
Holly married Bryan 'Bugsy' Smith in 1993, and then divorced in 1997, afterwards Holly said they were too young to cope, just like her parents were. They only went out for 8 days before they got married. (In a Las Vegas chapel). She then dated Brian Bouma. He worked on the crew for 'Our Mother's Murder'. A few years later, she then got engaged to Storm Lyndon (who is a second grade school teacher from Venice Beach and He teaches in South Central L.A) but she called off the engagement in late 2000. They met while on a holiday in Mexico in a bar/restaurant with Charmed ex co-star and best friend, Shannen Doherty. She currently lives with her husband, David Donoho, who used to work as a Key Grip on the set of Charmed. They got married on February 14th, 2004 on valentines day. “We decided to make it about our commitment to our new family” says David, referring to the baby boy they had named Finley Arthur Donoho on April 26th, 2004. "We had kind of a deadline, so we decided to do it real quick," says Holly, "We got married at the San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara. Yes, I pulled a Gwyneth. I know, it wasn't original, but it was quick!"
Holly currently lives in the Bell Canyon area which is located in the San Fernando Valley in California, in a Spanish style, three bedroom house with all of her pets and husband, David.
Holly supports the charity 'Thursday's child' because she remembers herself as a troubled child, She was often mean to her mum, punished by her teachers and dressed in black. She didn't have a good time in high school. "I kind of had a problem with authority, I wasn't very outgoing. I was shy. It was a tough time for me". Nowadays Holly is a very down to earth person. Holly says she is not into the whole Hollywood scene. The simple pleasures in life suit her just fine. She is also the official spokesperson for the Breast Cancer Awareness campaign.
Her favorite food is Italian-"Pretty much all kinds". She also loves Cheeseburgers, Coca Krispies, Salami, and Bacon. Her Hobbies include, Horseback riding, gardening & collecting antiques. She loves to play Scrabble as well as other games like Trivial Pursuit, Beyond Balderdash, Monopoly and the Worst-Case. And she has a lot of pets! She has Three quarter horses: Jesse, Jake, and Jezebel; five dogs: (two of them are her husband’s) Hugo, Travis, Sugar, Thunder and Lola (Lola was given to her by Alyssa's mum); three cats: Blue and Selina (named after Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman) and ?; two lovebirds: Lollipop and Flower. Holly also has four rabbits, and koi fish! She did have a a turtle but she had to get rid of it when she had the baby because of a salmonella risk, so it went to a nice big pond in her friend’s backyard. She also use to have 2 physically challenged hamsters, one was very fat and one only has 3 legs. The hamsters were once classroom pets of Storm Lyndon's and they went home in the summer break. When she was younger she had a Siberian husky, named Wiley, which was given to her by Actor, Don Johnson.
