The actress who plays Peggy on “Cedar Cove” looks familiar. What else has she done?
—Elena Alvarez, Tulsa, Oklahoma
If you are a soap opera fan, you may recognize Barbara Niven, 60, from her roles as Brenda Dickerson on “The Bold and the Beautiful” or Liz Coleman Reynolds on “One Life to Live.” But if you aren’t a fan of daytime TV, she also starred in the syndicated drama “Pensacola: Wings of Gold,” and had recurring roles on “Pacific Palisades” and “Silk Stalkings.”
If you are a regular Hallmark Channel watcher, Barbara Niven has previously appeared in several of their TV movies, including, “Back to You & Me,” “Mystery Woman: Wild West Murder” and “McBride: Semper Fi.”
“Hallmark’s one of my favorite employers because I love what they stand for and I love the message that they put out,” says the “Cedar Cove” star. “My grandson can watch this with me.”
Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Niven appreciates the northwest feel that “Cedar Cove,” which is based on a series of novels by Debbie Macomber, portrays, and the fact that the show isn’t a crime drama.
“It’s about people,” she says. “Not all of us live with a serial-killer neighbor. It’s slice-of-life. We have love, we have divorce, we have death, we have people dealing with aging, just like we do in real life and in every small town.”
Niven also likes the message of the show because it is positive. As someone who didn’t begin acting until she was more than 30 years old, and then studied for 15 years to make sure she got it right, she enjoys encouraging others to follow their dreams.
“I didn’t want to wonder ‘what if’ at the end of my life, so one day I had a wakeup call, and I just went for it,” she says. “I’m really passionate now about helping other people, inspiring them, no matter who they are, what their age, where they come from, that they can, too. If they have a dream, they can do it.”
