She became swell known after she starred paired Richard Chamberlain in the television mini-series The Thorn Birds. She disappeared from either pictures for trinity years & exposed acting. She so reappeared within 1987, playing opposite her married man, Bryan Brown (whom she met on the set of The Thorn Birds), in The Good Wife.

Around 2003, a portrait of Rachel Ward by creative person Jan Williamson won a Packing Room award at the Archibald Prize.

Filmography
''Martha's New Coat (2003) Bobbie's Girl (2002) Johnson County War (2002) And Never Let Her Go (Made for TV) (2001) On the Beach (Made for TV) (2000) My Stepson, My Lover (Made for TV) (1997) Double Obsession (1994) The Ascent (1994) Wide Sargasso Sea (1993) Christopher Columbus: The Discovery (1992) Double Jeopardy (Made for TV) (1992) Black Magic (Made for TV) (1992) And the Sea Will Tell (Made for TV) (1991) After Dark, My Sweet (1990) How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989) Shadow of the Cobra (Made for TV) (1989) Hotel Colonial (1987) The Good Wife (1987) Fortress (Made for TV) (1986) Against All Odds (1984) [http://www.richard-chamberlain.info/thornbirds/ThornBirds.html The Thorn Birds] The Final Terror (1983) Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982) Sharky's Machine (1981) Night School (1981) Christmas Lilies of the Field'' (1979)