My very first movie was a Hallmark Hall of Fame that won an Emmy for Best TV MOW of the Year in 1986! And, would you believe it is now one of the most honored television movies of all time? They shot this amazing production in my home town of Portland, Oregon and I was so grateful to be cast as James Garner’s girlfriend. I got to make out with him over and over again and my mom was jealous (tee hee). This was my first big part in a major movie and it’s how I got my SAG card. Right after that I got the courage to make my big move to Hollywood. Notice my big 80s hair and silver stretch pants. Gee, I loved that decade!
Now, fast forward 33 years to my latest Hallmark Hall of Fame movie “Love Takes Flight”. How great is it that I get to come full circle with my Hallmark family? And, I’ve made quite a few other movies in between!
HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: LOVE TAKES FLIGHT (2019)
SYNOPSIS: In this 2019 Hallmark Hall of Fame Presentation, single-mom Lizzie Beauman is encouraging when her young daughter unexpectedly befriends a widower named Walter as part of her Mission: Find a Friend.
Starring Nikki Deloach, Jeff Hephner & Barbara Niven.
HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: PROMISE (1986)
SYNOPSIS: Long absent from his family, Bob Beuhler (James Garner) returns home after his mother’s death to find she has left him her estate and placed his brother, D.J. (James Woods), in his care.
Harking back to a promise made many years earlier, Bob cannot bring himself to put D.J., who suffers from epilepsy and schizophrenia, in a home. Slowly, he and his brother bond, and in the process Bob rehabilitates his own scars, including the mark left on him by his childhood sweetheart (Piper Laurie).
Starring James Garner, James Woods & Piper Laurie.
HALLMARK MOVIE: CHRISTMAS IN EVERGREEN – TIDINGS OF JOY (2019)
As the town searches for a rumored Christmas Time Capsule, a skeptical writer arrives in Evergreen to get the story on the town’s “too-good-to-be-true” Christmas-fever.
Stars Paul Green, Maggie Lawson, Barbara Niven, Jill Wagner, Ashley Williams, Holly Robinson Peete & Teddy Sears.
HALLMARK MOVIE: LOVE ON THE MENU (2019)
The widowed dad of a 15-year-old, Hank’s restaurant, along with daughter Hannah (Jordyn Ashley Olson), is his whole life.
But discovering that the business is failing, combined with the loss of the coveted “star,” makes Hank determined to get Osteria back on track while developing the frozen food recipes.
Hank makes a deal in order to save his restaurant.
Stars Autumn Reeser, Kavan Smith & Barbara Niven.
HALLMARK MOVIE: CHRISTMAS IN EVERGREEN – LETTERS TO SANTA (2018)
When Lisa (Wagner) takes a last-minute Christmas trip to her hometown of Evergreen, she finds that the historic general store has been closed. Using her skills as a professional retail designer, Lisa decides to keep local tradition alive and help the good people of Evergreen bring the store back to life.
As Lisa charms a local contractor named Kevin (Deklin) into working with her, the pair find themselves facing one surprise after another as they restore the store to its former glory.
When the staff at the Kringle Kitchen temporarily accept the store’s beloved ‘Mailbox to Santa’ for safekeeping, the townspeople find and rally around a mysterious 25-year-old letter that never made it to the North Pole. As old traditions are made new again, Lisa finds herself falling for Kevin, the traditions, and the town of Evergreen.
Stars Jill Wagner, Mark Deklin, Barbara Niven & Holly Robinson Peete.
HALLMARK MOVIE: CHRISTMAS IN EVERGREEN (2017)
You’re invited to spend Christmas in Evergreen, Vermont. It’s the place you see when you reflect on the beauty and celebration of the season. It’s the place you’re homesick for when December arrives and you reflect on all what’s important. There’s a history to this idyllic small town, a bond between its families that crosses generations, and a story that truly comes alive each Christmas season. At the local café, there is also a belief that if you make a wish on their snow globe, your wish will be granted. However, it must be your heart’s true desire for the wish to come true.
Christmas in Evergreen sequels (2 and 3) have since been produced and have been aired on Hallmark Channel. Stars Ashley Williams, Holly Robinson Peete, Barbara Niven, Teddy Sears
HALLMARK MOVIE: CAMPFIRE KISS (2017)
Feeling disconnected from her teenage son, a protective mother (Danica McKellar) decides to step outside of her comfort zone and take him camping. But as soon as she arrives, she begins butting heads with her handsome cabin neighbor (Paul Greenstone), a single father and outdoorsman who is also in search of a connection with his teen daughter. Friction soon sparks a flame as these opposites attract.
Barbara Niven plays the wise camp counselor who brings the two together, teaching lessons about life, love and destiny. Stars Danica McKellar, Paul Greene & Barbara Niven.
HALLMARK MOVIE: A CHRISTMAS DETOUR (2015)
Two New York City-bound travelers find themselves inextricably linked when a snowstorm reroutes them to an airport hotel in Buffalo. The pair are joined on this misadventure by an older couple named Frank and Maxine trying to get to Connecticut. As their madcap journey ensues, our foursome will find plenty of surprises in store.
An anxious bride-to-be throws in with a broken-hearted guy and a happily married couple for an emergency ride to NYC, learning about each other and themselves along the way.
Starring Candace Cameron Bure, Paul Greene & Barbara Niven.
HALLMARK MOVIE: MOONLIGHT & MISTLETOE (2008)
It’s always Christmas in Santaville! But now, tiny Chester, Vermont’s year-round yuletide attraction is losing its widespread appeal. On the verge of bankruptcy, the resident St. Nick is hoping for a Christmas miracle to keep his dream from being bulldozed into another mini mall. Nick Crosby (Tom Arnold) is the owner of Santaville and head Santa.
One day he is smiling with visitors, the next, he is juggling a cascading stack of bills, unable to pay the rent and blissfully thinking a solution will magically appear.
When his daughter – and onetime Number One elf, Holly (Candace Cameron Bure), returns home, she is shocked to learn of her father’s situation.
Holly recruits Peter, Nick’s employee and master wood craftsman, to devise a solution to the money woes.
Starring Candace Cameron Bure, Tom Arnold & Barbara Niven.
HALLMARK MOVIE: BACK TO YOU & ME (2005)
A high-school reunion draws back to small town Bloomfield Dr. Syd Ludwick, who left for a city hospital career years ago but isn’t happy with her lukewarm colleague-lover there.
She grudgingly moves in at the parental home, now a B&B, as there is no other accommodation in town, but still blames ma Helen Ludwick, the town’s busybody, for neglecting her dad while dying, which isn’t exactly true.
Crucially, Sid also meets contractor Gus Martin, her first love, now widower and devoted father of 7-year old angel Jake, who wants to match them, and whose still undiagnosed serious medical condition becomes crucial, while waitress Connie Murray fails to snap up Gus.
Starring Lisa Hartman, Rue McLanahan & Barbara Niven.
HALLMARK MOVIE: MYSTERY WOMAN – WILD WEST MYSTERY (2005)
Mystery Woman is the name of a series of eleven TV movies released by the Hallmark Channel between 2003 and 2007, and now appearing regularly on the Hallmark Movie Channel.
While on the Hallmark Channel, it was broadcast in rotation with the movie series McBride, Murder 101, and Jane Doe, under the umbrella title Hallmark Channel Mystery Wheel.
In the UK these movies are aired, on a rotation basis, in afternoon drama slot on channel 5. The series pilot aired in 2003, followed by ten episodes first shown 2005–07.
Mystery Woman stars Kellie Martin as Samantha Kinsey, proprietor of a bookstore specializing in mystery books who gets involved in solving real-life mysteries. Starring Bruce Boxleitner & Barbara Niven.
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