Kip Niven

Kip Niven was raised in Prairie Village, Kansas (a suburb of Kansas City in affluent Johnson County), and graduated in 1963 from Shawnee Mission East High School. After spending a year at Baylor University, he changed his mind and entered the theater program at The University of Kansas, where he performed in dozens of plays. Niven had an impressive resume that includes films such as Magnum Force (1973), Earthquake (1974) and Midway (1976). He had performed on countless television shows, including memorable parts on The Waltons (1972), Law & Order (1990) and Walker, Texas Ranger (1993). He had roles on Broadway, in regional theater and episodic radio shows. He was probably best known for his three-year stint as Steve Marsh on the TV sitcom Alice (1976). Niven and the star of that series, (actress Linda Lavin), married in 1982. The marriage was turbulent and they subsequently divorced. Kip was first married to Susan and had two children Jim and Kate. She tragically died in a car accident in 1981. He and his 3rd wife Beth lived in Kansas and had a daughter Maggie, who was born in 1994. He also had two grandsons. In 1995 Kip returned to the Kansas City area where he grew up. He continued to work in local theater and on a comedy radio show.