Ward, Rachel 1957–

PERSONAL

Full name, Rachel Claire Ward; born September 12, 1957, in Cornwell, Oxfordshire, England; daughter of Peter Alistair and Claire Leonora Ward; married Bryan Brown (an actor, producer, writer), 1983; children: Rosie, Matilda, Joe. Education: Trained for the stage with Stella Adler and Robert Modica; attended the Byram Art School; University of Technology, Sydney, M.A., communications, 1994.

Addresses:

Manager—Himber Entertainment, 211 South Beverly Dr., Suite 208, Beverly Hills, CA 90212.

Career:

Actress, director, and writer. Worked as a fashion model; appeared in television commercials. Previously worked as a writer for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Awards, Honors:

Golden Globe Award nomination, new star of the year in a motion picture, 1982, for Sharky's Machine; Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actress in a miniseries or motion picture made for television, 1984, for The Thorn Birds; Tokyo International Film Festival Award, best actress, 1987, for The Good Wife; Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actress in a miniseries or motion picture made for television, 2001, for On the Beach; Australian Film Institute Award, best short fiction film, Australian Film Institute Award nomination, best screenplay in a short fiction film, 2001, both for The Big House; IF Award nomination (with Liz Watts), best short film, Inside Film, 2003, for Martha's New Coat; Appointed Member of the Order of Australia, 2005.

CREDITS

Film Appearances:

Eleanor Adjai, Night School (also known as Terror Eyes), Paramount, 1981.

Juliet Forrest, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (also known as Dead Men Wear No Plaid), Universal, 1982.

Dominoe, Sharky's Machine, Warner Bros., 1982.

Margaret, The Final Terror (also known as Campsite Massacre, Bump in the Night, Carnivore, and Forest Primeval), Comworld, 1983.

Jessie Wyler, Against All Odds, Columbia, 1984.

Marge Hills, The Good Wife (also known as The Umbrella Woman, Who's Zoomin Who, and Peter Kenna's "The Good Wife"), Atlantic Releasing, 1987.

Irene Costa, Hotel Colonial, 1987.

Julia Bagley, How to Get Ahead in Advertising, 1988.

Fay Anderson, After Dark, My Sweet, 1990.

Terror Eyes, 1991.

Queen Isabella, Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (also known as Cristobal Colon: el descubrimiento), 1992.

Annette Cosway, Wide Sargasso Sea, 1993.

Patricia, The Ascent, 1994.

Grandmother, Double Obsession, 1994.

Herself, The Thorn Birds: Old Friends New Stories, Warner Bros., 2003.

Made film debut in Three Blind Mice.

Film Director:

The Big House (short), 2000.

Blindman's Bluff (short), 2000.

Martha's New Coat, 2003.

Television Appearances; Series:

Host, In the Name of Love, Lifetime, 1994.

Arianna, Monarch Cove, Lifetime, 2006.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Meggie Cleary, The Thorn Birds, ABC, 1983.

Chris Royston, Shadow of the Cobra, Seven Network, 1989.

Jennifer Jenkins, And the Sea Will Tell, CBS, 1991.

Kate Linthorne, Seasons of Love, CBS, 1999.

Moira Davidson, On the Beach, Showtime, 2000.

Christine Sheve, And Never Let Her Go, CBS, 2001.

Queenie, Johnson County War, Hallmark Channel, 2002.

Sally Dunbar, Blackbeard, Hallmark Channel, 2006.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Jenny, Christmas Lilies of the Field, NBC, 1979.

Sally Jones, Fortress, HBO, 1985.

Lillian Blatman, Black Magic, Showtime, 1992.

Lisa Burns, Double Jeopardy, Showtime, 1992.

Caitlin Cory, My Stepson, My Lover (also known as Love, Murder and Deceit and No Recourse), USA Network, 1997.

Roberta Langham, Bobbie's Girl, Showtime, 2002.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Presenter, The 54th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1982.

Presenter, The 62nd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1990.

Retrosexual: The 80's, VH1, 2004.

Television Appearances; Pilots:

Arianna, Monarch Cove, Lifetime, 2006.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Edna MacReady, "The Dinner Party," Dynasty, ABC, 1981.

Sara, "Third Party," Twisted Tales (also known as Twisted), Nine Network, 1996.

Hostess, In the Name of Love, Lifetime, 1994.

The Big Schmooze, Comedy Central, 2000.

Enough Rope with Andrew Denton, ABC [Australia], 2003.

Also appeared in "Indigenous Children in Australia," What's Going On?.

Television Director; Episodic:

"Heart Attack," Two Twisted, Nine Network, 2006.

Stage Appearances:

Appeared in A Doll's House and Hopping to Byzantium.

WRITINGS

Screenplays:

Blindman's Bluff (short), 2000.

The Big House (short), 2000.

OTHER SOURCES

Periodicals:

Femme Fatales, Summer, 1992, pp. 12–15, 60.

In Style, March, 1998, pp. 226.