Tara was born and raised in Columbia, South Carolina. She was a determined child, starting dance lessons at age 2, and learning to read at age 3. She grew up unsure of whether she wanted to be a medical doctor or a performing artist. Her mother Gayle was a science teacher with a passion for visual art, and her father Frank was a soil and water conservationist with a semi-professional career as a violist. Needless to say, Tara was supported on both paths; thus was born her nickname "Doc Hollywood."

After years of community theatre, dance lessons, voice lessons, and being crowned Miss United States Teen, Tara pursued a B.A. in Music at the College of Charleston, SC on a full academic and music scholarship. After her Sophomore year, the brainiac was pre-accepted to medical school at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. During her Senior year, she landed a co-Star on an episode of Dawson's Creek. After a week on the set of a network series, she saw that she really liked the biz. What to do, what to do...Tara immediately called the medical school and asked for two years off...granted. Off to New York City she flew to pursue a career in acting. And she never looked back.

Tara now resides in Burbank with her husband Blaise Fitzgerald. Her parents still reside just outside of her hometown in South Carolina. And her brother Drew is a computer scientist in Washington, D.C.