Montgomery MacNeill - Character of the Month

Montgomery MacNeill,

With red hair and hazel eyes, Montgomery stands at 5 feet 6 inches and refers to himself as Short!

In the episode “Baby Remember My Name Montgomery returns to the School of the Arts and says “Growing up, I always felt like the world was a black tuxedo, and I was a pair of brown loafers. I just didn't seem to fit in anywhere. And then I started classes at School of the Arts, and I instantly felt comfortable here. I was still my weird little self, but that seemed to be okay with everybody. I also found out that I had this special talent – I was a good actor. All of a sudden... I was somebody.”

Montgomery lives in the shadow of his Mother, Melinda McNeill’s success. As a talented and successful actress and performer her career came first leaving Montgomery in the wings. A situation he came to hate as he felt his Mother was missing his life.

Growing up his Mother was always busy with a new role and Montgomery spent a lot of time on his own.  Be the time Montgomery is at the School of the Arts his Mother’s career is slowing down but she is still chasing the roles.

They keep in touch by letter but don’t see each other very often.

In “Come One Come All” Montgomery states that his mother is performing an act. An act where she manipulates things to end up being the centre of attention.

Despite knowing how Fame can change a person and affect family relationships, Montgomery still decided he wanted to be a performer too and becomes a drama major. Although he has a keen interest in working behind the scenes and is often happy to be the stage manager of the school shows.    

Montgomery is more clued up about show business than many of his friends and in “But Seriously Folks” he demonstrates his knowledge of TV commercials and when Doris gets a part in a commercial she goes to Montgomery for advice.  

He also offers to help Julie settle in to life in New York when she first arrives in “Metamorphosis”. In passing grade he educates Danny on what an entourage is.  

Montgomery is down to earth but has a head for business and in “A Musical Bridge” he secretly records one of Bruno’s songs and plays it to a band in the hope that it could lead to something big for both Bruno and himself.

Suddenly Montgomery disappears at the end of season one with no explanation to where he went and why. He returns in the final episode of season 6 but we never find out what happened in the previous 5 years.