Holly Marie Combs

Holly Marie Combs seemed like she’d been on television forever. Growing up in San Diego, she hit the screen in her teenage years ultimately spanning a 17-year acting career on just three television shows with Pickett Fences, Charmed, and Pretty Little Liars.

It’s an impressive run for someone who was a household face and name during the better part of the 2000s.

But when Charmed got another set of stories, Holly Marie Combs and other original cast members weren’t consulted or included at all.

CHARMED WAS REBOOTED BUT HOLLY MARIE COMBS WASN’T INVOLVED

Though Charmed officially ended in 2006, the CW rebooted it in 2018 with an entirely new cast. It didn’t take long for Charmed alums to start beefing with the new cast. Holly Marie Combs had to act as something of a cast peacemaker on social media after McGowan mixed it up with newcomer Sarah Jeffrey. 

But she wasn’t just an innocent when it came to this feud. Holly Marie Combs originally had some not-so-nice things to say about the updated Charmed, including taking digs at the show for piggybacking the original’s hard work, while not bringing much new to the story.

She even alluded to the idea that they should have just named the new work something different. In her mind, it was a reboot in name only.

In the end, the show ran for four seasons though they made the decision to not include any of the original cast in the reboot or ask for their input at all. It appears the series was trying to distance itself from the first go-around.

But how did it get to this point and how did Holly Marie Combs’ career unfold?

SHE STARTED OUT ON PICKETT FENCES

You were probably first introduced to Holly Marie Combs on Friday evenings when you and the family would sat down and watched Pickett Fences.

The relatively unknown Holly Marie Combs played Kimberley Brock, the teenage daughter of sheriff Jimmy Brock, played by the great Tom Skerrit.

Combs’ character navigated the consistently odd world of Rome, Wisconsin, and all of its peccadillos. Holly Marie Combs appeared throughout the show’s four-year run before it was ultimately canceled in 1996. 

HOLLY MARIE COMBS BECOMES A STAR ON CHARMED

If Picket Fences helped to launch a budding acting career, then her role on Charmed was when it solidified. In 1998 Holly Marie Combs scored the role of Piper Halliwell on the WB Series.

She starred alongside Shannon Doherty, fresh off her run on Beverley Hills 90210, and Alyssa Milano, who’d just finished a stint on Melrose Place and was a few years removed from Who’s the Boss?

The three played the Halliwell sisters, who come to find out they are actually *blessed* with the powers of witches. The show, while rather silly, did have a long eight-season run on the WB. 

Holly Marie Combs played the middle sister who could control time and space, stopping things in their tracks.

The show had niche appeal, averaging between 4-7 million viewers per episode over its run and adding Rose McGowan as another sister along the way. 

SHE WAS ON PRETTY LITTLE LIARS

After Charmed left the air in 2006, Holly Marie Combs took a few minor and forgettable roles on television movies before landing on ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars in 2010.

Considering the length of her career, it makes sense that Combs started on-air as a teenager in Pickett Fences but now was playing a mother in the series. 

Considering the often fickle nature of television programming, it’s remarkable that Holly Marie Combs’ three major acting turns on the small screen all had solid runs.

Pretty Little Liars lasted for seven seasons, eventually coming off the air in 2017. Sure, she didn’t have the same star turn here that we saw on Charmed, considering the show is a teenage drama, but parlayed it into plenty of story arcs on the show. 

There’s some speculation Pretty Little Liars could return in the form of a feature-length film, but it’s unclear if Holly Marie Combs would reprise her role if that were to happen. 

HOLLY MARIE COMBS HAD A REALITY SHOW WITH SHANNON DOHERTY

In 2015, Holly Marie Combs reunited with her Charmed co-star Doherty to *star* in Off the Map with Shannon and Holly on Great American Country.

It was something of a road trip show following the two as they visited and toured various locations across the South. They landed in places and events like a bourbon distillery, Pope Creek Ranch’s annual tomato fight, a moonshine outfit as well as popular restaurants and concert venues. 

Off the Map with Shannon and Holly was barely reviewed and lasted only six episodes before GAC took it off their programming schedule. 

SHE IS MARRIED TO MIKE RYAN

Maybe that could be it for her, given that money isn’t likely to be a huge factor for her at this point.

According to Cheat Sheet, Combs made $60,000 per episode during her run on Charmed, banking $6.7 million on the show over the years with a net worth round $14 million. 

She might also just be enjoying the married life. In 2019, Holly Marie Combs married restaurant financier Mike Ryan. The latter owns Xoc, a Mexican-style restaurant in Woodland Hills, California which is where the two met in 2016. 

It was Comb’s third marriage. She has three teenagers from her previous marriage. It could be that after working consistently in Hollywood for more than 25 years, Holly Marie Combs is taking time to spend with family and with her new husband.

It would explain some of her lack of credits over the last handful of years.