![Rachel Ward](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185/2G2nOzKKE4260UuggGHhOmeyiUV.jpg)
Rachel Ward
Rachel Claire Ward AM (born 12 September 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.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 19.323 |
Birthday | 1957-09-12 |
Place of Birth | Cornwell Manor, Cornwell, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK |
Also Known As | Рэйчел Уорд, |
![The Final Terror](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/om5bpb0gqwQxHJ2gvJzkFZ6s9Io.jpg)
1983
![The Final Terror](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/om5bpb0gqwQxHJ2gvJzkFZ6s9Io.jpg)
The Final Terror
5.078/77
A group of friends head out for what is expected to be a vacation of hiking, camping and a good time, but when a backwoods mama finds them on her turf...
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The Final Terror
![Against All Odds](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/Ac0m41QYoxYBfRoU4cL491vOfEv.jpg)
1984
![Against All Odds](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/Ac0m41QYoxYBfRoU4cL491vOfEv.jpg)
Against All Odds
5.7/196
She was a beautiful fugitive. Fleeing from corruption. From power. He was a professional athlete past his prime. Hired to find her, he grew to love he...
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Against All Odds
![On the Beach](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/1DekOcoIk9sXok8a9mcin3OSrXK.jpg)
2000
![On the Beach](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/1DekOcoIk9sXok8a9mcin3OSrXK.jpg)
On the Beach
6.1/70
The world has finally managed to blow itself up and only Australia has been spared from nuclear destruction and a gigantic wave of radiation is floati...
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On the Beach
![After Dark, My Sweet](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6fWrEcIEoFuwYt4MUY4RtZwuMo9.jpg)
1990
![After Dark, My Sweet](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/6fWrEcIEoFuwYt4MUY4RtZwuMo9.jpg)
After Dark, My Sweet
5.6/70
The intriguing relationship between three desperados, who try to kidnap a wealthy child in hope of turning their lives around.
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After Dark, My Sweet
![Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/cwYwZBEE73PakUWzbICzxYKlXAz.jpg)
1982
![Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/cwYwZBEE73PakUWzbICzxYKlXAz.jpg)
Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
6.627/369
Juliet Forrest is convinced that the reported death of her father in a mountain car crash was no accident. Her father was a prominent cheese scientist...
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Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid
![Wide Sargasso Sea](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/bXd4BilBzaFumBbsdc7FguIO6Or.jpg)
1993
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Wide Sargasso Sea
5/32
In the wake of Jamaican emancipation, French colonist Annette Cosway falls into poverty and marries racist Englishman Paul Mason. But when Annette's y...
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Wide Sargasso Sea
![Christopher Columbus: The Discovery](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2VUr81cOU0jsZtzBs2EoVHcDJDW.jpg)
1992
![Christopher Columbus: The Discovery](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2VUr81cOU0jsZtzBs2EoVHcDJDW.jpg)
Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
4.904/52
Genoan navigator Christopher Columbus has a dream to find an alternative route to sail to the Indies, by traveling west instead of east, across the un...
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Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
![Sharky's Machine](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gjGK3ZWTbiVkWVVklqtGqF1o4Cn.jpg)
1981
![Sharky's Machine](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gjGK3ZWTbiVkWVVklqtGqF1o4Cn.jpg)
Sharky's Machine
6/94
Police officer Tom Sharky gets busted back to working vice, where he happens upon a scandalous conspiracy involving a local politician. Sharky's new '...
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Sharky's Machine
![How to Get Ahead in Advertising](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8T1UacG5YV063PDbaHH2RaqA6Wc.jpg)
1989
![How to Get Ahead in Advertising](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8T1UacG5YV063PDbaHH2RaqA6Wc.jpg)
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
6.298/94
Pressure from his boss and a skin-cream client produces a talking boil on a British adman's neck.
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How to Get Ahead in Advertising
![Fortress](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/a1jHnKnRUEdKi9vkd9LIdmFaj5D.jpg)
1985
![Fortress](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/a1jHnKnRUEdKi9vkd9LIdmFaj5D.jpg)
Fortress
6.881/84
After being kidnapped by four masked men, a teacher and her students rebel by plotting against the criminals.
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Fortress
![Hotel Colonial](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9mX4WFt5ukYkjYipaWUAuQyDzG2.jpg)
1987
![Hotel Colonial](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9mX4WFt5ukYkjYipaWUAuQyDzG2.jpg)
Hotel Colonial
5.3/15
Marco Veniera goes to Bogota, Columbia to find his brother, Luca who supposedly committed suicide. In his search, he meets fiery and exotic Irene Cost...
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Hotel Colonial
![Night School](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/pGFnK1Npjth1iYm3Kq2gqjC0Ceb.jpg)
1981
![Night School](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/pGFnK1Npjth1iYm3Kq2gqjC0Ceb.jpg)
Night School
5.7/65
A Boston police detective investigates a series of gruesome decapitations of various college coeds, committed by a helmeted, black-leather clad serial...
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Night School
![Johnson County War](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/i7BDiZAFvIXVF4NWqOFzWndcfaz.jpg)
2002
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Johnson County War
5.538/13
The three Hammett brothers, Cain, Harry and Dale are caught in a conflict that escalates rapidly and the old farmers facing against new farmers who ha...
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Johnson County War
![Double Jeopardy](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9PaPWQgh5Pf5eIJjoxSq8oaHusV.jpg)
1992
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Double Jeopardy
5.227/11
Jack Hart lives with his lawyer wife and yound daughter and enjoys a wonderful life. Jack's old girlfriend, Lisa, comes into town and they have an aff...
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Double Jeopardy
![The Good Wife](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/x2cFXujeW68LXn1uCo8SxcCeXhF.jpg)
1987
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The Good Wife
4.8/13
In pre-WWII Australia, a love triangle develops between a man, his wife and the man's brother.
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The Good Wife
![My Stepson, My Lover](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/uTUHJCG4wSUAxbfYeUktNtxFJDr.jpg)
1997
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My Stepson, My Lover
3.3/6
A kind nurse finds herself embroiled in a tense and potentially deadly family affair when she falls for the son of her ruthless new husband.
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My Stepson, My Lover
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2002
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Bobbie's Girl
4.1/7
Two middle-aged lesbians find their lives complicated when one of them takes in her ten-year-old nephew.
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Bobbie's Girl
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2001
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And Never Let Her Go
6.3/7
The true story of a woman's suspicious disappearance after ending an affair with a powerful, married attorney.
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And Never Let Her Go
![Black Magic](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/e9Vfmdtq8Rr3vakOqmJYUJNiidn.jpg)
1992
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Black Magic
3.3/6
A young man is tormented by visions of his dead cousin who attempts to warn him of a Witch capable of casting deadly spells!
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![The Death and Life of Otto Bloom](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/as18zAdVx7o7NTeVkFwbmOxE5TT.jpg)
2017
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The Death and Life of Otto Bloom
7.3/12
The chronicle of the life and great love of Otto Bloom, an extraordinary man who experiences time in reverse - passing backwards through the years onl...
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The Death and Life of Otto Bloom
![And the Sea Will Tell](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/lKkaeWtddgX1hmHAGwrbXDAHg9O.jpg)
1991
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And the Sea Will Tell
6.4/7
A wealthy couple (James Brolin and Deidre Hall) are killed on their yacht off the coast of a secluded South American island called Palmyra. The suspec...
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And the Sea Will Tell
![The Ascent](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/22SQ1ohoehKAKhVHpHjMTUC7XtS.jpg)
1994
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The Ascent
5.5/4
The real-life adventure of a dashing Italian soldier who escapes a British prisoner-of-war camp because he dreams of climbing 17,000-foot Mt. Kenya an...
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The Ascent
![Double Obsession](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/fMEaj1uZvqM659oDMghNdbB7Omd.jpg)
1992
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Double Obsession
5.5/2
A lesbian librarian kidnaps a beautiful woman she's obsessed with.
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Double Obsession
![Shadow of the Cobra](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/brbgiaUDtnLpPhI8rQmdG3G61Hb.jpg)
1989
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Shadow of the Cobra
7/1
Dramatisation of the story of notorious Indian serial killer Charles Sobhraj (b. 1944), who preyed on Western tourists throughout South East Asia duri...
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Shadow of the Cobra
![Seasons of Love](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/y6O4YomhdatJrdDlHCpK3rod0Tw.jpg)
1999
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Seasons of Love
0/0
Sprawling tale spanning 50 years in the life of the fictional Linthorne family as seen through the eyes of the rugged head of the clan as he and his w...
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Seasons of Love
![Christmas Lilies of the Field](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gTMwml2cNeecg122jSpf8wRgebB.jpg)
1979
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Christmas Lilies of the Field
5/1
In this belated sequel to 'Lilies of the Field' (1963), jack-of-all-trades Homer Smith revisits the chapel in the Arizona desert that he helped build...
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Christmas Lilies of the Field
![Rachel's Farm](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/83K1lkoS6M3ztrbWPZV33HvCPjK.jpg)
2023
![Rachel's Farm](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/83K1lkoS6M3ztrbWPZV33HvCPjK.jpg)
Rachel's Farm
7.5/2
Award-winning film director and actress Rachel Ward is the last person you’d expect to join a farming revolution. Following the birth of her first gra...
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Rachel's Farm
![Peter Rabbit](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/lugOvdaNpbVGQK9TyMRDiUbLtY6.jpg)
2018
![Peter Rabbit](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/lugOvdaNpbVGQK9TyMRDiUbLtY6.jpg)
Peter Rabbit
6.682/1725
Peter Rabbit's feud with Mr. McGregor escalates to greater heights than ever before as they rival for the affections of the warm-hearted animal lover...
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Peter Rabbit
![Twisted](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/A0z4TbijpfiAtY1klpfpc9KbzF3.jpg)
1997
![Twisted](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/A0z4TbijpfiAtY1klpfpc9KbzF3.jpg)
Twisted
0/0
Four unsuspecting victims find themselves beyond "The Twilight Zone" in a twisted and altered reality: an airline passenger thinks he's lost his ident...
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