Barbara Niven

Life and career

Barbara Lee Buholz was born in Portland, Oregon, and attended Beverly Hills Playhouse. She is known for her roles on soap operas The Bold and the Beautiful as Brenda Dickerson, and in One Life to Live as Liz Coleman Reynolds.

Niven starred on the syndicated drama series Pensacola: Wings of Gold (1998-2000). Niven also has appeared in guest roles on numerous television series, including ER, Cold Case, Las Vegas, NCIS, Charmed, Eli Stone and had recurring roles on Pacific Palisades and Silk Stalkings.

She played Marilyn Monroe in the HBO film The Rat Pack (1998) and has appeared in many films such as Hired to Kill (1990), Under Lock and Key (1995), Forest Warrior (1996), Foxfire (1996), Breast Men (1997), The Drone Virus (2004), Chasing Ghosts (2005), Redline (2007), Summer's Blood (2009), A Perfect Ending (2012) and Suburban Gothic (2014). She has also appeared in a number of Lifetime movies - Stranger in My Bed (2005), The Perfect Neighbor (2005), Double Cross (2006), Murder in My House (2006), A Valentine Carol (2007), Dead at 17 (2008), Accused at 17 (2009), Heat Wave (2009), My Mother's Secret (2012), The Wife He Met Online (2012), Disney Channel's Tiger Cruise (2004), and Hallmark's Wedding Daze (2004), Back to You and Me (2005), Mystery Woman: Wild West Mystery (2006), and McBride: Semper Fi (2007)

In 2013, Niven was cast in Hallmark Channel first original drama series Cedar Cove, opposite Andie MacDowell and Bruce Boxleitner.

Niven has written two books, Get Your Woman On and How Did You Do That!. In 2014, she co-starred with Kat Dennings and Ray Wise, in the horror comedy Suburban Gothic.