Timothy Olan Montgomery

Timothy "Olan" Montgomery was an identical twin born in Warner Robins, Georgia in 1963 to parents Gary Montgomery and Eslye Moore.  He died the morning of April 4, 2020 of complications from battling the COVID-19 virus, 8 days before his 57th birthday. He fought valiantly for 29 days, of which 26 he was sustained on a ventilator. He was in recovery when his condition took a sudden turn and the doctors and nurses caring for him could not revive him.  We believe he saw a glimpse of heaven while on the ventilator in a medicated coma, and after waking up on his son's birthday (April 1st) to let us know he was ok and unafraid, he made the decision to spend eternity in paradise.  He will be forever missed.

American artist and actor Olan Montgomery spent early years in Van Nuys, California and grew up in Macon, Georgia where he graduated from Northeast High School in 1981. In a family of seven siblings, Olan stood out as a spirited exceptionally dressed young man, never afraid to speak his mind, yet in his firmness he was always kind.

Never one to pass up dessert, as was his motto reminding us all to enjoy life, his favorite childhood candy was red shoestring licorice that he would purchase from a local ice cream truck.  As a kid, he enjoyed going to Lake Sinclair and Uncle Charlie's for fish fries and hush puppies. He always had a heart for even God's tiniest creatures.  Among his first pets was a mouse in a village he and his brothers dubbed "Rodentia."  Always a fun bunch, he and his brothers had many adventures in the "Pinto Bean," their first shared vehicle, and hiking up to the HOLLYWOOD sign.  Later, three siblings participated in a civil war play where Olan and his brother Mike had speaking parts and the more scientific brother, Tom, played a tree.  Olan was always very close with his twin, Tom.  One of his proudest moments was watching Tom land a plane on their high school's football field.

His passion for art manifested at an early age; he modeled for his artist mother's paintings and assisted her whenever he could.  His first acting lesson was with Eartha Kitt in the family's kitchen.

In high school, Olan was a straight 'A' student in addition to being vice-president of the student council, Youth Representative for the American Legion, national news and editorial writing winner from the Quill and Scroll National Writing Contest and semi-finalist in the Governor's Honor program in both art and science, to name a few of his accomplishments.  He was on the newspaper staff and worked for the Macon Telegraph.  After high school, he was accepted to both Northwestern and Columbia University.  He attended Columbia University in New York City where he pursued a degree in Journalism.  

New York became his home. He began doing makeup and hair for Elite models and traveling to Italy.  Beginning in 1983, he was represented by Battaglia, a top hair and makeup agency in Milan. He began his photography business in 1985.  Over the course of two decades in fashion, he worked for Vogue Italia, Vogue Sposa, Glamour, Mademoiselle, Seventeen, Lancombe, Revlon, Avon, Halston, W, WWD, Interview and Cosmopolitan with photographers Francesco Scavullo, Robert Mapplethorpe, Chuck Baker, Christopher von Hoenberg, Gilles Larrain, Andrea Blanch, Antoione Verglas, Deigo Uchitel, Javier Vallhonrat, along with noted celebrities Guns N' Roses, Taylor Dayne, Peabo Bryson, Linda Evangelista, Stephanie Seymour, Hunter Reno, Rebecca Brussard, Elizabeth Saltzman, Sally Kirkland, and The Four Tops.

In addition to being a talented photographer, makeup and hair artist, Olan was a pop-artist notable for his portraits of both celebrities and unknown people.  He employed several techniques including one where transfered his own photographs to canvas, in order to embue photographic portraits with color. His fine art portraiture both for and of noted personalities includes Alan Cumming, Rufus Wainwright, Anne Hathaway, Boy George, Kelly Osbourne, Susan Jaffe, Ethan Stiefel, Dominic West, and Courtney Love.  After receiving positive feedback from Ms. Love, he is quoted as saying "It is the greatest gift for an artist's work to speak to its subject, and I am honored by Ms. Love's response to my work of her."  Village Voice art critic Michael Musto described the Olan's work as "upping the subculture."

His art extended to acting in 2010.  In the acting world, he is known for his work on The Roads Not Taken (2020), FBI Most Wanted "Ghosts" (2020), Stranger Things (2019), The Blacklist (2017), and Boardwalk Empire: Peg of Old (2011). At the time of this writing, he has one film in post-production "Liberty." He performed in supporting roles in feature films Already Gone (2019) directed by Christopher Kenneally, executive produced by Keanu Reeves, Sundance feature film Appropriate Behaviour (2014) directed by Desiree Akhavan, Hollywood Dirt (2017) directed by Tosca Musk, Alterscape (2018) directed by Serge Levin and Haymaker directed by Nicholas Sasso produced by Andrew van den Houten. Olan and his twin brother starred in the 2016 American Film Institute Film Fest official selection short Ham Heads (2016) as conjoined twins directed by Efrén Hernández as well as Frankie: Italian Roulette (2015) which won the 2015 Oaxaca Film Fest in Mexico and the Nostro D'Argento in Rome in 2016. He has written, produced and has several of his own short films Rush Call Clown (2016) (winner of the Judges Award in the Discover Film Festival 2016), Silence = (2017), Babies to the world (2017), Toggle (2017) and Al & Ollie (2017). 

Olan was a true artist and innovator who stood up for injustice. His many accomplishments may only be outweighed by the love he brought to this world and belief he bestowed on others.  We are forever grateful to have his legacy memorialized in art form. The world is a better place for having him in it.

Olan is survived by his son, Shawn Grauel, mother Eslye Moore and bonus father Tim Moore, bonus mother Shirley Montgomery, brothers Charles (Chuck) McCuen and wife Teresa, Gary Michael (Mike) Montgomery and wife Vickie, Thomas Lee Montgomery and wife Coanna, Kursti Pratt Woolard and husband Tony, Tim Moore and wife Elizabeth, Daniel Ray Montgomery and wife Candy, along with many nieces and nephews.  He is preceded in death by father Gary Mizner Montgomery and brother Shawn Patrick Montgomery.