Olivia Barash is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, appearing in television series such as Little House on the Prairie, Charlie's Angels, and Soap. She subsequently had a lead role on the short-lived sitcom In the Beginning, which originally aired in 1978. She also had a lead role in the Walt Disneytelevision filmChild of Glass. As a young adult, Barash established herself in supporting film roles in Repo Man, Tuff Turf, Patty Hearst, and Floundering.
Biography
Early life and performances
Barash was born January 11, 1965 in Miami, Florida. Barash was raised in New York City, began acting professionally at age 11. During her early years of acting, singing and dancing in classic musicals on stage in New York, Olivia starred as "Baby June" in Gypsy with Angela Lansbury. She was the first child actor to win the acclaimed New York Critic's Circle Award. Moving to Hollywood as a teen with her family, she attended Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, California and graduated in 1982. Barash appeared as a guest in two episodes of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in 1977, and in 1978, was cast in a main role on the sitcom In the Beginning, which followed a conservative Catholic priest and liberal, socially-conscious nun who run a mission in Baltimore; the series ran only five episodes on CBS, though a total of nine were filmed before the series was canceled. The same year, she starred in the Walt Disney television film Child of Glass, in which she portrayed the ghost of a young girl murdered during the Antebellum era.
Later career
In 1984, Barash appeared in Repo Man, in which she had a supporting role playing a UFO cultist. The following year, she appeared opposite James Spader and Kim Richards in the teen dramaTuff Turf. In 1987, Barash had a main supporting role in the television series Fame, playing Maxie Sharp. In 1988, she had a supporting role in Paul Schrader's biopic Patty Hearst. In 2013, she revealed plans to direct and produce Fallout Entertainment: Friends Of The Viper Room. This project was inspired by her accounts and experiences while working at the Los Angeles club The Viper Room back in its heyday in the mid 1990s.
