Rachel Gordon

{{short description|Australian actress}}

{{Use Australian English|date=February 2014}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Rachel Gordon

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{birth date and age |df=y |1976|05|10}}

| birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

| education = National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) (1997)

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1997–present

| spouse = Scott Johnson (2005–2009)
Jon Sivewright

| children = 2

}}

Rachel Gordon (born 10 May 1976) is an Australian actress.

Early life

Gordon was born in Brisbane, Australia, the daughter of Michael and Donna Gordon. Her great-grandfather was Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, and her great-grandmother was Dame Enid Lyons, who was the first woman in the Australian parliament.{{Cite web |last=Litson |first=Jo |date=2014-10-25 |title=Logie award nominee Rachel Gordon struts her stuff on stage in charming romantic comedy |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/arts/logie-award-nominee-rachel-gordon-struts-her-stuff-on-stage-in-charming-romantic-comedy/news-story/3722ab2a0d99f8d6b7489e21f5589367 |website=The Sunday Telegraph}}

Gordon is a 1997 graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney.

Career

After her graduation from NIDA, Gordon appeared on stage in numerous productions. She has since worked for most of Australia's major theatre companies, including Bell Shakespeare, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre and Marian Street Theatre.{{cite web|url= https://shanahan.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/GORDON-Rachel-261118.pdf |title= Rachel Gordon |publisher= Shanahan}}

Gordon's first television role was in medical drama All Saints playing the recurring role of Claudia McKenzie from 2000 to 2001. She then played Detective Senior Constable Amy Fox in long-running police procedural television show Blue Heelers, from 2004 to 2006. She starred in long-running soap opera Neighbours in 2007, playing Charlotte Stone. She followed this with a recurring role in soap opera Home and Away, playing Jazz Curtis, the estranged mother of Drew Curtis from 2007 to 2008.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/artists/rachel-gordon/biography/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141121050559/http://www.mtv.com/artists/rachel-gordon/biography/|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 November 2014|title=MTV Music|publisher=MTV }}{{cite web |url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/arts/logie-award-nominee-rachel-gordon-struts-her-stuff-on-stage-in-charming-romantic-comedy/story-fniv7r7y-1227102067394 |title=Logie award nominee Rachel Gordon struts her stuff on stage in charming romantic comedy |date= 26 October 2014 |location=Sydney |access-date= 7 December 2014}}

Gordon appeared in a recurring capacity in the mystery drama thriller Winter as Melanie Winter from 2010 to 2015. During this time, she also starred in comedy series The Moodys in a main role as Bridget Quaill, from 2012 to 2014, reprising the role in A Moody Christmas.

In 2016, Gordon began appearing alongside Jessica Mauboy in Seven Network drama series The Secret Daughter playing Susan Norton until 2017.{{cite news|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/jessica-mauboy-to-begin-filming-on-new-series-the-secret-daughter/news-story/be78791f76998475174797357b8fd126?nk=cfb429b18655ca0e93ccfee99540e4e4-1477867147|title=Jessica Mauboy to begin filming on new series The Secret Daughter|last=Halliwell|first=Elle|date=17 April 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=Sydney|access-date=30 October 2016}} The following year she had a main role as Bridget Kovacec in comedy series Back in Very Small Business.

In 2022, Gordon appeared in drama series The Twelve for four episodes, as Emily Cavanaugh, opposite Sam Neill and Brendan Cowell. In 2023, she starred as fictional Australian Prime Minister Rebecca Stewart in the BBC sitcom Queen of Oz,{{Cite news |last=Reporters |first=The Telegraph |date=2020-02-07 |title=What's on TV tonight: Best Interests, Sarah Beeny vs Cancer and more |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/tv-guide-tv-television-tonight/ |access-date=2023-06-12 |issn=0307-1235}} created by English comedian Catherine Tate.

Gordon's television guest appearances include Big Sky (1997), White Collar Blue (2002), Farscape (2003), The Cooks (2005) The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting (2013), Playing for Keeps (2019) and Made in Rhode Island (2020). Her most recent television appearance was in an episode of the anthology series Erotic Stories in 2023.

Gordon's film credits include Thunderstruck (2004) opposite Sam Worthington, mockumentary comedy Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance (2007) and Australian-American psychological thriller Angel of Mine (2019) alongside Luke Evans, Noomi Rapace and fellow Australian Yvonne Strahovski. She has also appeared in the made-for-television movies Never Tell Me Never (1998) as Angela, Comedy Showroom: The Letdown (2016) as Mandy.

Personal life

Gordon lived in a share house with fellow actor Ian Stenlake and other students, while she was studying at NIDA.

In late 2004, Gordon married her partner of 11 years, actor Scott Johnson, who she met at NIDA. They divorced in 2009.

She later married actor Jon Sivewright, who she met on the set of Home and Away. Together they have two children.

Gordon was trained by Al Gore and the Australian Conservation Foundation as a presenter for The Climate Change Project in 2007.

In 2008, she walked the Great Wall of China with other celebrities in an effort to raise money for Olivia Newton-John's Cancer and Wellness Centre.

Filmography

=Film=

class="wikitable sortable"
Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

2004

|Thunderstruck

|Molly

|

2004

|{{sortname|A|Whole New You|nolink=1}}

|Woman in Middle Management

|Short film

2007

|Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance

|Vomit Child's Mother

|

2019

|Angel of Mine

|Ellen

|

=Television=

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1997

|Big Sky

|Tara Brown / Lisa

|"Wishing and Hoping"

1998

|Never Tell Me Never

|Angela

|TV film

2000–2001

|All Saints

|Claudia McKenzie

|Recurring role

2002

|White Collar Blue

|Mardi Peters

|"1.12"

2003

|Farscape

|Lo'Laan

|"Mental as Anything"

2004–2006

|Blue Heelers

|Amy Fox

|Main role

2005

|{{sortname|The|Cooks}}

|Annette

|"Sticky"

2007

|Neighbours

|Dr. Charlotte Stone

|Recurring role

2007–2008

|Home and Away

|Jazz Curtis

|Recurring role

2012

|The Moodys

|Bridget Quaill

|Main role

2012

|{{sortname|A|Moody Christmas}}

|Bridget Quaill

|Main role

2013

|{{sortname|The|Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting}}

|Special Guest

|"1.1", "1.2", "1.3"

2014

|{{sortname|The|Moodys}}{{cite web | url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2013/09/cameras-roll-on-the-moodys.html | title=Cameras roll on the Moodys | TV Tonight | date=13 September 2013 }}

|Bridget Quaill

|Main role

2010–15

|Winter

|Melanie Winter

|Recurring role

2016

|Comedy Showroom: The Letdown

|Mandy

|TV movie

2016–2017

| The Secret Daughter{{cite web | url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2016/04/more-cast-as-cameras-roll-on-the-secret-daughter.html | title=More cast as cameras roll on the Secret Daughter | TV Tonight | date=18 April 2016 }}

| Susan Norton

|12 episodes

2018

| Back in Very Small Business{{cite web | url=https://tvtonight.com.au/2017/12/cameras-roll-on-back-in-very-small-business.html | title=Cameras roll on Back in Very Small Business | TV Tonight | date=4 December 2017 }}

| Bridget Kovacec

| Main Role

2019

| Playing for Keeps

| Narelle Baxter

| "2.5"

2020

| Made in Rhode Island

| Girl at The Bar

| Pilot

2022

|The Twelve

|Emily Cavanaugh

|4 episodes

rowspan="2" |2023

|Queen of Oz

|Rebecca Stewart

|6 episodes{{Cite web |date=2023-06-16 |title=BBC One – Queen of Oz, Series 1, Episode 1 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0fkxfwl |access-date=2023-06-02 |publisher=BBC |language=en-GB}}

Erotic Stories

|Sandra

|1 episode

Theatre

class="wikitable sortable"

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1997Death Defying ActsJulietMarian St Theatre, Sydney
1997MacbethLady MacduffBell Shakespeare
1998Out ThereSashaHair of the Dog
1998Light ParticlesBethGriffin Theatre Company, Sydney
1998All Things ConsideredLauraMarian St Theatre, Sydney
1999The Taming of the ShrewBiancaSydney Botanic Gardens with EHJ Productions
1999Last Nights of BallyhooSunny FreitagMarian St Theatre, Sydney
1999Big Hair in AmericaRebaHotHouse Theatre
2000WitSusie Monoghan / RN & BSNEnsemble Theatre, Sydney
2001Crimes of the HeartMeg MagrathMarian St Theatre, Sydney
2001Don JuanCharlotteSTC
2008Boeing BoeingGabriellaNew Theatricals
2009ConcussionSTC / Griffin Theatre Company
2009NinetyIsabelMTC / QTC
2010King LearRegan / JaneBell Shakespeare
2010Let the SunshineEmmaMTC / QTC
2012Managing CarmenJessicaEnsemble Theatre, Sydney
2012Between Two WavesGrenelleGriffin Theatre Company
2014Daylight SavingFelicityDarlinghurst Theatre Company, Sydney{{cite web|url= https://jolitson.com/2014/11/04/rachel-gordon-interview/ |title= Rachel Gordon interview |publisher= Jo Litson: Scene and Heard |date= 14 November 2014}}
2015Boston MarriageClaireQPAC, Brisbane & QLD regional tour with QTC{{cite web|url= https://scenestr.com.au/arts/the-forbidden-love-of-rachel-gordon |title= The Forbidden Love of Rachel Gordon |publisher= Scenestr |date= 19 January 2015}}
2016Jasper JonesMrs BucktinMTC
2017Odd Man OutVarious charactersEnsemble Theatre, Sydney
2018The Norman Conquests TrilogyRuthEnsemble Theatre, Sydney

References

{{Reflist}}