Rachel Ward

Rachel Claire Ward AM born 12 September 1957 is an EnglishAustralian 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 Harpers 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 Revlons Scoundrel Girl In 1981 she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for New Star of the Year for her role in the film Sharkys Machine starring with Burt Reynolds The following year she starred in Dead Men Dont 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 US audiences voted Ward one of the worlds 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 Marthas 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 atrisk young people and support for the Australian film and television industry In 2009 she directed her first featurelength 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