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.

Filmography

• 2026Whale Shark Jack — Aunty Dot
• 2023Rachel's Farm — Self, Director
• Darby and Joan — English Sat Nav (Voice), Director
• 2019Palm Beach — Director, Writer
• 2018Peter Rabbit — Josephine Rabbit (voice)
• 2017The Death and Life of Otto Bloom — Ada
• 2013An Accidental Soldier — Director
• The Straits — Director
• 2009Beautiful Kate — Director, Screenplay
• Rain Shadow — Kate McDonald
• Blackbeard — Sally Dunbar
• Monarch Cove
• Two Twisted — Director
• 2003Martha's New Coat — Director
• 2002Bobbie's Girl — Roberta Langham
• 2002Johnson County War — Queenie
• 2001And Never Let Her Go — Christine Sheve
• And Never Let Her Go — Christine Sheve
• 2001The Big House — Director, Writer
• 2000On the Beach — Moira Davidson
• On the Beach — Moira Davidson
• Seasons of Love — Kate Linthorne
• 1997My Stepson, My Lover — Caitlin Cory
• 1997Twisted — Sara (segment 'Third Party')
• Twisted Tales — Sara
• 1994The Ascent — Patricia
• 1993Wide Sargasso Sea — Annette Cosway
• 1992Black Magic — Lillian Blatman
• 1992Christopher Columbus: The Discovery — Queen Isabella
• 1992Double Jeopardy — Lisa Burns Donnelly
• 1992Double Obsession — Grandmother
• 1991And the Sea Will Tell — Jennifer Jenkins
• And the Sea Will Tell — Jennifer Jenkins
• 1990After Dark, My Sweet — Fay Anderson
• 1989How to Get Ahead in Advertising — Julia Bagley
• 1989Shadow of the Cobra — Chris Royston
• 1987Hotel Colonial — Irene Costa
• 1987The Good Wife — Marge Hills
• 1985Fortress — Sally Jones
• 1984Against All Odds — Jessie Wyler
• 1983The Final Terror — Margaret
• The Thorn Birds — Meggie Cleary
• 1982Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid — Juliet Forrest
• Dynasty
• 1981Night School — Eleanor Adjai
• 1981Sharky's Machine — Domino
• 1979Christmas Lilies of the Field — Jenny

Appearances as themselves (2)

• A Bite to Eat with Alice — Self
• 2014The Last Impresario — Self