Enterprise Helmsman

Background:

Beginning his acting career at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Anthony Montgomery is familiar among "Star Trek" fans as helmsman Travis Mayweather on the UPN sci-fi series "Star Trek: Enterprise" (2001-2005). The 5' 10" actor also had a recurring role on the WB teenage comedy-drama series "Popular," as George Austin (2000-2001), a new student at Kennedy High and a football player who dates Carly Pope's Sam McPherson for a few months. He also guest-starred in such TV shows as "JAG," "Frasier," "Charmed," "Half & Half" and "Boomtown."

Montgomery has starred in the films "Leprechaun in the Hood" (2000; V), "I'm Through with White Girls (The Inevitable Undoing of Jay Brooks)" (2007) and "An American in China" (2008). He will next be seen acting opposite Tom Huang in an upcoming comedy movie called "Why Am I Doing This?"

Grandson of legendary jazz guitarist and composer Wes Montgomery, Anthony signed with the Germany-based AGR Television Records and will release his hip-hop debut album in October 2008.

Martial Arts Fan

Childhood and Family:

Grandson of legendary jazz guitarist (and composer) Wes Montgomery, Anthony Montgomery was born on June 2, 1971, in Indianapolis, Indiana. He attended Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis before transferring to Ball State University in Indiana, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Performance Theater and Drama.

Montgomery is a martial arts student and a practitioner of Hapkido. He also studied Koga Ryu Ninjutsu. He currently resides in Los Angeles and also enjoys diving, swimming and dancing.

"When I was growing up, my mum never made us read. She made sure that we could read, but she wouldn't say 'I want you to read a chapter a night' or 'I want you to read this book and give me a book report.' So I didn't really like reading growing up. The only thing I was really interested in was reading comic books. If you can follow a comic book, as far as I am concerned, you can follow anything. I think my love of comics kind of spawned me liking animation. I used to watch tons and tons of cartoons growing up and I didn't realize as a kid, and I'm sure that I knew it, but nobody ever told me 'Hey Anthony, you could have a job writing animation or doing voices for animation. Things that you already liked to do, you could make that your career.' And as I was going into the industry, I thought let's go ahead, let's see if I can capitalize on all of this. Let's enjoy this process, whatever that process is, and it's a lot of fun for me." Anthony Montgomery

Why Am I Doing This?

Career:

"I got into acting in college. I just took general lectures and auditioned for a children's theatre play. I got the part and I've been acting ever since. Because kids give you the most honest feedback. If they don't like you, they will tell you! But I love that! I thought that if I could have that kind of effect on people, be it a child of five or an adult of 95, then that's what appealed to me. I can't really give you a trig to acting, other than I enjoyed the process. I continued to learn. I got a degree from Ball State University in performance, theater and drama, but I continued to take acting classes. You are always honing your techniques. It's the same with interviewing. You get better at the interviewing process. You didn't just wake up one morning saying 'Hey, I wanna go interview people! I want people to talk in my microphone!' It's a process and I'm trying to make sure that I understand and enjoy the process." Anthony Montgomery

While studying at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Anthony Montgomery began acting in a children's play called “East of the Sun, West of the Moon.” After graduation, he decided to test the waters in Chicago where he sang in an R&B group. He ultimately returned to Indianapolis and briefly performed stand-up comedy before moving to California and beginning a career in professional acting.

In 1998, Montgomery became a production assistant and appeared as an unaccredited extra in former cinematographer turned first-time director Mikael Salomon's action movie "Hard Rain," starring Christian Slater, Morgan Freeman, Randy Quaid, Minnie Driver and Ed Asner. Also that year, he hosted a syndicated educational television series called "Awesome Adventures." Additionally, he appeared in the direct-to-video released erotic independent film "ESP: Extra Sexual Perception" (1998) and was spotted as a guest in an episode of FOX’s anthology television show "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction." In 1999, he could be seen guest-starring in an episode of the NBC/CBS military drama "JAG" and the short-lived NBC sitcom "Stark Raving Mad."

Entering the new millennium, Montgomery landed his first starring role, that of young struggling rap artist Postmaster P, in the straight-to-video released slasher film, "Leprechaun: In the Hood," alongside Warwick Davis, Ice-T, and Coolio. He also portrayed the recurring role of George Austin (2000-2001), a new student at Kennedy High and a football player who dates Carly Pope's Sam McPherson for a few months, on the WB teenage comedy-drama series "Popular." He also played a waiter in two episodes of the NBC sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer, "Frasier," and a paramedic in an episode of the WB supernatural drama "Charmed."

In 2001, Montgomery snagged his most popular role to date, that of Ensign Travis Mayweather, an officer aboard the starship Enterprise, on the UPN sci-fi series "Star Trek: Enterprise." He portrayed the character since the show's premiere on September 26, 2001, until its finale on May 13, 2005.

Talking about the original “Star Trek” series, Montgomery said, "I wasn't a Trekkie by any sense of the word. I would tune in and whenever the show came I would never turn it away. But I couldn't tell you from week to week who did what. Like the technobabble, I never knew what any of this stuff was; I just knew it was really cool when I was watching it. That's being a kid that loved reading comic books and having an imagination that is, to me, just boundless. I've always loved the fact that 'Star Trek' is one of those shows that they do things with your imagination that you didn't even think were possible. And I loved that!"

During his "Enterprise" tenure, Montgomery played guest roles in an episode of UPN’s sitcom "Half & Half," the G4TV show "Player$," and NBC’s action series "Boomtown." He also returned to Indiana to star in theatrical fund-raisers for charity in the summer of 2005.

Post "Enterprise," Montgomery starred as an African-American guy who digs indie rock, graphic novels, and dates white chicks, in the multiple award-winning romantic comedy directed by Jennifer Sharp and written by Courtney Lilly, "I'm Through with White Girls (The Inevitable Undoing of Jay Brooks)" (2007). He also co-starred with James Snyder and Sun Fei Fei in Ron Berrett's comedy movie "An American in China" (2008).

Montgomery is now on the set working on his upcoming film project, "Why Am I Doing This," a comedy in which he stars as a struggling comedian who is best friends with a struggling Asian-American actor (played by Tom Huang, who also wrote and directed the movie).

Grandson of legendary jazz guitarist and composer Wes Montgomery, Anthony apparently will branch out into music. In April 2007, he signed with the Germany-based AGR Television Records and plans to release his hip-hop debut-album, tentatively titled “A.P.,” in October 2008.

Awards:
---