Rachel Ward

Ward was born in Oxfordshire near Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, the daughter of Claire Leonora (née Baring) and the Hon. Peter Alistair Ward. Her grandfathers were William Ward, 3rd Earl of Dudley and the cricketer Giles Baring.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} Ward is also the great-granddaughter of William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley, Governor-General of Australia 1908–11, and sister of environmental campaigner and former actress Tracy Louise Ward, Duchess of Beaufort. She attended Hatherop Castle School, Hatherop, Gloucestershire,{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/7879407/Rachel-Ward-returns-to-Hollywood-as-a-director.html|location=London|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Claire|last=Scobie|title=Rachel Ward returns to Hollywood as a director|date=10 July 2010}} then the Byam Shaw School of Art in Kensington, West London. She left school at age 16 to become a fashion and photography model.{{cite web |url=http://people.com/archive/cover-story-the-torrid-trio-of-the-thorn-birds-vol-19-no-12/ |title=The Torrid Trio of The Thorn Birds |last=Haller |first=Scott |date=28 March 1983 |work=People|type=cover story|access-date=15 February 2017|quote=At 16, she left school to pursue a modeling career.}} She briefly dated David Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy.{{cite news|url=http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/culture/double-or-nothing-20090720-dq4h.html|title=Double or nothing|first=Stephanie|last=Wood|date=20 July 2009|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=26 February 2012}}

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"{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GypJAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mAYNAAAAIBAJ&pg=1347%2C4858286|title=Thorn Birds Producers Gambled on Rachel Ward|first=Fred|last=Rothenberg|work=The Hour|page=12|date=29 March 1983}} and Revlon's "Scoundrel Girl".{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ckRPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BAMEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7127%2C3393778|title=Actress Rachel Ward Cooses a low-key lifestyle in Australia|first=Bob|last=Thomas|work=Toledo Blade|page=37|date=18 June 1989}} 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. Ward assigns much of the credit for this breakthrough performance to acting coach Sandra Seacat, first for simply helping her get the job (after her disastrous first reading){{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pYxKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QJQMAAAAIBAJ&pg=6983,5874930&dq=birds+sondra-seacat&hl=en|title=Casting Gamble in Thorn Birds|date=29 March 1983|work=The Telegraph|location=Nashua|access-date=6 September 2012}} and then for the quality of the finished performance, assembled over the course of a gruelling five-month shooting schedule, while undergoing a simultaneous and no less gruelling makeover programme at the hands of Seacat.{{cite news|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/175815092|title=Tempo: Thorn Birds gives Ward chance to win her wings|date=29 March 1983|work=Chicago Tribune|access-date=6 September 2012|first=Marilyn|last=Preston}} {{Subscription required}} 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, Ward then disappeared from film for a few years to study acting.

She reappeared in 1987 playing opposite her husband, Bryan Brown (whom she met on the set of The Thorn Birds), in The Umbrella Woman. 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, Ward won the Australian Film Institute Award for Best Short Fiction Film for The Big House,[http://www.afi.org.au/awards/pastwinners/Non-Feature%20Award%20Winners%201958-2007%20.pdf Australian Film Institute official site], retrieved 15 March 2008. 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. That film also won the 2003 ATOM Award.

{{External media|image1=[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3561723/Celebrity-pictures-from-Michael-Whites-album.html?image=4 1970s photo of Ward] with Peter Cook by Michael White, The Daily Telegraph

|image2=[https://media.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prize_images/archward0.jpg Portrait of Rachel Ward] by Jan Williamson}}

In 2003, a portrait of Ward by artist Jan Williamson won the Packing Room Prize at the Archibald Prize competition.[https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/prizes/archibald/2003/22998/ "Winner: Packing Room Prize 2003:] Jan Williamson, Rachel Ward", Art Gallery of New South Wales In 2005, Ward 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".{{cite web

|url = https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1136046

|title = It's an Honour website

|access-date = 4 November 2007

|publisher = Australian Government}}

In 2006, Ward acted in Kevin Connor's mini-series Blackbeard, made for the Hallmark Channel.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k8XJ6UcCumYC&pg=PA10|title=Movies Made for Television: 2005–2009|last=Marill|first=Alvin H.|date=11 October 2010|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7659-0|page=10}}

In 2007, Ward returned to television, headlining the new ABC drama Rain Shadow. She played a country veterinarian named Kate McDonald, a free spirit who confronts personal and professional obstacles in a rural, drought-affected town.

In 2009, she directed her first feature-length film titled Beautiful Kate, which she adapted from a 1982 Newton Thornburg novel. It premiered at the Sydney Film Festival.

Ward has been married to the Australian actor Bryan Brown since 1983. They have three children: Rosie, Matilda and Joe.They met while filming The Thorn Birds{{cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/life/weekend-australian-magazine/rachel-ward-is-calling-the-shots/news-story/d8ba94be9b81fe12424da0fe24049f39|title=Rachel Ward is calling the shots|first=Megan|last=Lehmann|date=14 September 2013|access-date=9 August 2019|newspaper=The Australian}}{{cite magazine|access-date=9 August 2019|url=https://www.nowtolove.com.au/celebrity/celeb-news/kindred-spirits-rachel-ward-and-bryan-brown-9484|title=Kindred spirits: Rachel Ward & Bryan Brown|date=22 July 2009|magazine=The Australian Women's Weekly}}

Director

{{cite web|url= https://ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/3008 |title= Rachel Ward |publisher=AusStage}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Commons category-inline|Rachel Ward}}
• {{IMDb name|id=0001829|name=Rachel Ward}}

{{TokyoInternationalFilmFestivalBestActress|state=collapsed}}

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Category:People from Chipping Norton

Category:1957 births

Category:Living people

Category:Actresses from Oxfordshire

Category:Australian television actresses

Category:Australian television directors

Category:Australian women television directors

Category:Australian film actresses

Category:Australian film directors

Category:Australian women film directors

Category:Australian screenwriters

Category:Australian women screenwriters

Category:English emigrants to Australia

Category:Members of the Order of Australia

Rachel

Category:Alumni of the Byam Shaw School of Art

Category:Actors from West Oxfordshire District