Rachel Ward

Biography

Rachel Claire Ward (born September 12, 1957) is an English-Australian actress, film and television director, screenwriter, and former model who has primarily pursued her career in Australia. During her modelling career, she was featured on the covers of Vogue, Harper's & Queen, and Cosmopolitan magazines. After moving to the United States in 1977, she appeared in television advertisements such as the Lincoln Mercury "Cougar Girl" and Revlon's "Scoundrel Girl". In 1981, she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for "New Star of the Year" for her role in the film Sharky's Machine starring with Burt Reynolds. The following year, she starred in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid with Steve Martin. Her big break came in 1983, when she starred opposite Richard Chamberlain as the lead role portraying Meggie Cleary in the television miniseries The Thorn Birds, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film. Also in 1983, U.S. audiences voted Ward one of the world's 10 most beautiful women. In 1984, she played Jess in the film noir remake Against All Odds, with Jeff Bridges. After filming Fortress in 1985, she then disappeared from film for a few years to study acting. In 2001, she was again nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film for her role in On the Beach (2000). Also in 2001, she won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Short Fiction Film for The Big House, and Best Australian Film at Flickerfest. The film also won the Film Critics Circle of Australia award, as did her 2003 film Martha's New Coat — which also won the 2003 ATOM Award. In 2005, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia "for service to raising awareness of social justice through lobbying, mentoring and advocacy for the rights of disadvantaged and at-risk young people, and support for the Australian film and television industry". In 2009, she directed her first feature-length film titled Beautiful Kate, adapted by Ward from a 1982 Newton Thornburg novel, and premiered at the Sydney Film Festival. She has been married to the Australian actor Bryan Brown since 1983. They have three children: Rosie, Matilda, and Joe. Matilda Brown is an actress, writer and director.

Most Known For

Dynasty

The Thorn Birds

as Meggie Cleary

Against All Odds

as Jessie Wyler

Peter Rabbit

as Josephine Rabbit (voice)

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

as Juliet Forrest

Blackbeard

as Sally Dunbar

Darby and Joan

as English Sat Nav (Voice)

The Good Wife

as Marge Hills

A Bite to Eat with Alice

as Self

On the Beach

as Moira Davidson

Sharky's Machine

as Domino

Monarch Cove

After Dark, My Sweet

as Fay Anderson

My Stepson, My Lover

as Caitlin Cory

Night School

as Eleanor Adjai

Wide Sargasso Sea

as Annette Cosway

How to Get Ahead in Advertising

as Julia Bagley

Hotel Colonial

as Irene Costa

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery

as Queen Isabella

And the Sea Will Tell

as Jennifer Jenkins