Holly Marie Combs Bio

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Holly Marie Combs Pictures

Holly Marie Combs Donoho (born December 3, 1973) is an American actress. Her roles have included portrayals of Piper Halliwell in the American television series Charmed and Kimberly Brock in Picket Fences, for which she received a Young Artist Award.

Holly Marie Combs: Early life

Holly Marie Combs was born in San Diego, California. At the time of her birth, her mother, Lauralei Combs (née Berckhem), was fifteen 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 mom 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 School of Acting.

Holly Marie Combs: Career

with Lauren Holly at 1991 emmy awards

Although she had a number of minor roles in the late 1980s, including a brief speaking part in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July, Combs' major acting debut arrived in the 1992 TV drama series Picket Fences. She auditioned for the role of Kimberly while she was 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. Picket Fences ran for four years, winning Combs critical acclaim and a Young Artist award.

In 1992, Combs made her appearance in Simple Men, Chain of Desire, and Dr. Giggles, in which she plays its protagonist, the 19-year-old daughter of Cliff De Young's character and girlfriend of Glenn Quinn's character, Jennifer Campbell.

Combs was with her friend Shannen Doherty when Doherty was given the pilot script for Charmed. Doherty took Combs along to the audition when Combs said she wanted to take part in the audition. When they did, Combs auditioned for the role of Prue Halliwell and Doherty for Piper Halliwell, but they ended up switching roles. Alyssa Milano and Combs both became producers for Charmed in the fifth season. For the first three seasons of Charmed (debuted in 1998 and was a hit TV series, which ended in May 2006), Combs played the second oldest of the three sisters. When the eldest, Doherty, left after the third season and Rose McGowan joined the cast for the fourth season, Combs played the eldest sister for the remaining five seasons of the show, even though she was the youngest of the three actresses.

In 2008 Combs signed a contract with Lifetime Television to produce and star in a new TV series, Mistresses which is scheduled to air in January 2009, but was not picked up.

Holly Marie Combs: Personal life

In 1993, Combs married Brian "Travis" Smith; they divorced in 1997. She then went on to marry former Charmed key-grip and long-time boyfriend David Donoho on Valentine's Day 2004. They are the parents of two sons, Finley Arthur Donoho born April 26, 2004 and Riley Edward Donoho born October 26, 2006.

Combs has four tattoos: she has a rose on her right shoulder blade, a butterfly on the inside of her right wrist, an Anglo Saxon design around her left wrist, and a Tribal design around her right wrist, which was repaired in November 2000 because the original design was unbalanced.

In an article in ePregnancy Magazine, Combs admits she had been smoking from the age of 15 whenever she was nervous. That changed as soon as she found out about her pregnancy with her first child, when she decided to immediately stop: