Rachel Ward
Biography
Rachel Ward is an actress and filmmaker with British and Australian citizenship. Born in England, she started as a fashion model, appearing on magazine covers, before moving to the United States and into acting. Her early films include Sharky's Machine (1981), which brought a Golden Globe nomination for New Star of the Year, and Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982). She gained wide recognition for the television miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983), earning a Golden Globe nomination, and starred in Against All Odds (1984). After Fortress (1985) she paused to study acting, returning in The Umbrella Woman (1987). On the Beach (2000) earned her another Golden Globe nomination. She won an Australian Film Institute Award for her short film The Big House, and later directed Beautiful Kate (2009), which brought AACTA nominations for direction and screenplay. She co-directed the documentary Rachel's Farm (2023).
69years old
Turns 70 on September 12in 305 days
- Born England
- Star sign: VirgoThe sign runs August 23 to September 22
- Rachel Claire Ward (birth name)Also credited as Rachel Claire Brown and Rachel Brown
Movie Career
- Films
- 16
- Career span
- 42 years1981 to 2023
First and latest
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Big break
Ward credited acting coach Sandra Seacat with helping her land the lead role of Meggie Cleary in The Thorn Birds after her disastrous first reading, and with shaping the performance during a five-month shoot.
A change of course
Ward made Fortress in 1985, then took a break from movies for a few years so she could study acting.
Behind the camera
Ward made her feature-length directing debut with Beautiful Kate in 2009, working from a Newton Thornburg novel published in 1982. Her work on the film brought AACTA Award nominations for Best Direction and Best Screenplay.
Rachel Ward movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
Worked with
Rachel Ward shares four films with Bryan Brown, and one with each of the others. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Bryan Brown's page
Sam Neill's page
Bruce Dern's page
Burt Reynolds's page
Jeff Bridges's page
Richard E. Grant's page
All films by Will Gluck
All films by Carl Reiner
All films by Taylor Hackford
Box office
What Rachel Ward's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$415 million
6 of the 16 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 16 films: 6 worldwide figure; 3 us gross only; 4 never in cinemas; 3 figure not found.
- 6Worldwide figure
- 3US gross only
- 4Never in cinemas
- 3Figure not found
Highest grossing
The six biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$351M84.7% of the total
- 2$36M8.6% of the total
- 3$18M4.4% of the total
- 4$8.3M2.0% of the total
- 5$1.2M0.3% of the total
- 6$418K0.1% of the total
Awards
One award and honor.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other honors | |||
| 2005 | Member of the Order of Australia | Won | |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.