Skip to main content
Rachel Ward

Rachel Ward

Actor · b. 1957 · Cornwell Manor, Cornwell, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK

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.

Movies24

  • Movie6.7

    Peter Rabbit

    2018 · 2K votes

  • Movie5.7

    Against All Odds

    1984 · 253 votes

  • Movie6.6

    Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid

    1982 · 466 votes

  • Movie4.8
  • Movie6.2

    Sharky's Machine

    1981 · 118 votes

  • Movie6.2

    On the Beach

    2000 · 87 votes

  • Movie5.7

    After Dark, My Sweet

    1990 · 86 votes

  • Movie
  • Movie6.3
  • Movie5.2

    Double Jeopardy

    1992 · 14 votes

  • Movie6.9

    Fortress

    1985 · 101 votes

  • Movie6.7

    And Never Let Her Go

    2001 · 9 votes

  • Movie4.0

    My Stepson, My Lover

    1997 · 9 votes

  • Movie5.1

    The Final Terror

    1983 · 96 votes

  • Movie6.3

    And the Sea Will Tell

    1991 · 10 votes

  • Movie5.7

    Night School

    1981 · 82 votes

  • Movie5.4

    Hotel Colonial

    1987 · 18 votes

  • Movie5.3

    The Good Wife

    1987 · 20 votes

  • Movie4.9

    Wide Sargasso Sea

    1993 · 37 votes

  • Movie3.9

    Black Magic

    1992 · 12 votes

  • Movie5.5

    Johnson County War

    2002 · 15 votes

  • Movie6.0
  • Movie5.5

    The Last Impresario

    2014 · 4 votes

  • Movie4.4

    Bobbie's Girl

    2002 · 9 votes

Series11

  • TV6.5

    Dynasty

    1981 · 135 votes

  • TV7.2

    The Thorn Birds

    1983 · 135 votes

  • TV6.1

    Darby and Joan

    2022 · 18 votes

  • TV
  • TV9.5

    Monarch Cove

    2006 · 2 votes

  • TV5.5

    Blackbeard

    2006 · 28 votes

  • TV8.0

    Twisted Tales

    1996 · 2 votes

  • TV7.0

    And Never Let Her Go

    2001 · 2 votes

  • TV8.5

    On the Beach

    2000 · 2 votes

  • TV8.0

    Seasons of Love

    1999 · 1 votes

  • TV5.5

    Rain Shadow

    2007 · 2 votes