Rachel Claire Ward, AM (born 12 September 1957) is an English-born
Australian actress, film director, television director, and
screenwriter.Ward was born in Cornwell 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. Ward is also the
great-granddaughter of William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley,
Governor-General of Australia 1908â€"11, and sister of environmental
campaigner and former actress Tracy Louise Ward, Duchess of Beaufort.
She attended Hatherop Castle School, Hatherop, Gloucestershire, then
the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. She left school at age 16 to
become a fashion and photography model. She briefly dated David
Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy.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 â€" 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) and then for the quality of the finished performance,
assembled over the course of a grueling five-month shooting schedule,
while undergoing a simultaneous and no less grueling makeover program
at the hands of Seacat. 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 several years to
study acting.
Australian actress, film director, television director, and
screenwriter.Ward was born in Cornwell 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. Ward is also the
great-granddaughter of William Ward, 2nd Earl of Dudley,
Governor-General of Australia 1908â€"11, and sister of environmental
campaigner and former actress Tracy Louise Ward, Duchess of Beaufort.
She attended Hatherop Castle School, Hatherop, Gloucestershire, then
the Byam Shaw School of Art in London. She left school at age 16 to
become a fashion and photography model. She briefly dated David
Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy.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 â€" 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) and then for the quality of the finished performance,
assembled over the course of a grueling five-month shooting schedule,
while undergoing a simultaneous and no less grueling makeover program
at the hands of Seacat. 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 several years to
study acting.
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