She is portrayed as a heroine who experienced many tragedies, mostly at the hands of her controlling ex-husband, the villainous James Stenbeck (Anthony Herrera).

He decided to make Barbara a "bitch" of sorts, and had her break up long standing couple Tom Hughes and Margo Montgomery.

[2] This proved to be unpopular, and Marland quickly reverted the character back to being "good" by pairing Barbara with Oakdale police detective (and later chief) Hal Munson (Benjamin Hendrickson).

Burned up in a chemical explosion in 2001 with the actress donning special effects make-up for a full year,[3] Barbara returned to her evil ways and culminated in her committing crimes such as drugging a police officer and hiring a hit man to murder Rose D'Angelo (Martha Byrne).

After six years off screen, Barbara was recast and returned to the show, now played by dancer and actress Colleen Zenk.

Zenk began the role on September 1 of that year and stated her maternal grandparents never owned a television until her debut on As the World Turns.

I think that’s because I very quickly settled into such an easy rapport with Don Hastings and Kathy Hays, and Helen Wagner, and then eventually, after awhile [sic] with Eileen Fulton," she said.

[4] Barbara returns to town in 1978, having just graduated from art school and fleeing a failed romance with Steven Farrell.

Soon, she was forced to confess a deep, dark secret—three years earlier Barbara had an affair with the aristocratic, very rich James Stenbeck, and became pregnant with his child.

Claudia's husband, Raymond, proved to be an abusive man and, with Tom's help, Barbara was able to secure custody of Paul.

Barbara resisted a romantic reunion with the dashing aristocrat and became engaged to Tom, but Stenbeck soon learned that he was Paul's father and confronted her on her wedding day.

Barbara tearfully left Tom at the altar and ran off to the Caribbean with James and they made plans to marry.

The Stenbeck fortune first became a problem for the couple when Charles Ivenstrom, whose daughter was pregnant by James' brother, tried to kill them so that his grandchild-to-be, rather than Paul, would inherit the money.

In addition, James decided to supplement his fortune by smuggling drugs and stolen jewelry through the fashion company he bought for Barbara.

Not long after, at the funeral of James's brother, Lars, Barbara was shocked to see a man who looked exactly like Geoffrey: Gunnar St. Clair.

Barbara's captors were Charles Ivenstrom, the man who had once ordered her death, and his daughter, Ingrid, the widow of James's younger brother, Lars.

Meanwhile, Gunnar found a painting of a woman who bore a striking resemblance to Barbara/Bianca and bought it, telling Barbara the picture meant they were destined to be together.

Though her attempt was unsuccessful, she did put a cramp in the Hughes marriage after lying to Margo that she and Tom had made love.

Around Hal, Barbara finally started loosening up and enjoying the simple pleasures in life, such as a hockey game and a can of beer.

On the run again, James blackmailed his ex-lover Emily Stewart into helping him escape and manipulated Paul into keeping his whereabouts secret.

After a standoff in a cabin at Ruxton Hills, James apparently died in fire, his body burned beyond recognition.

Although there were a slew of suspects, Barbara would end up being arrested when her gun was found to be the one that killed James and Tonio Reyes reported that he saw her enter the house right before he heard gunshots.

However, at this point, Emily accidentally learned about Margo's true conception date and blackmailed Barbara into letting Paul work there—or she'd tell Hal the truth.

At the same time, Gwen's brother's girlfriend, Sophie, was expecting a baby who Cole Norbeck wanted no part of.

Although, Will and Gwen were poised to reconsider their move out of Oakdale, Barbara refused to let them put their lives on hold for her.

Determined that her son be happy, Barbara led Paul and Meg to believe that her health was failing so they would get married ASAP.

Barbara denied murdering Sofie and, on her lawyer's suggestion, enlisted Rick Decker's help in proving Paul's innocence.

Since she had been taking pain medication, Barbara couldn't dismiss Cole's claim that she killed Sofie in a drug induced stupor.

James Stenbeck also returned to Oakdale in August 2008, and soon enough, Barbara had confronted him, learning he had stolen her money to get Paul to ask him for help and not her.

When Paul learned that his mother had planned an impromptu wedding, he surprised the couple by gathering the family to witness the union.