Rachel Gordon (born 10 May 1976) is an Australian actress.
Early life
Gordon was born in Brisbane, Australia, the daughter of Michael and Donna Gordon. Her great-grandfather was Prime Minister
Joseph Lyons
Joseph Aloysius Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Australia, from 1932 until his death in 1939. He held office as the inaugural leader of the United Australia Par ...
, and her great-grandmother was Dame
Enid Lyons, who was the first woman in the Australian parliament.
Gordon is a 1997 graduate of the
National Institute of Dramatic Art
The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...
(NIDA) in Sydney.
Career
After her graduation from NIDA, Gordon appeared on stage in numerous productions. She has since worked for most of Australia's major theatre companies, including
Bell Shakespeare
Bell Shakespeare is an Australian theatre company specialising in the works of William Shakespeare, his contemporaries and other classics. Founded by actor John Bell and based in Sydney, it is Australia's only national theatre company. Apart f ...
,
Melbourne Theatre Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company is a theatre company based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1953 as the Union Theatre Repertory Company at the Union Theatre at the University of Melbourne, it is the oldest professional theatre com ...
,
Sydney Theatre Company
Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in the Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Theatre ...
,
Queensland Theatre Company,
Ensemble Theatre
The Ensemble Theatre is an Australian theatre company and theatre, situated in the Sydney suburb of Kirribilli, New South Wales.
History
It is Australia's longest continuously running professional theatre group, having given its first perfor ...
and
Marian Street Theatre.
Gordon's first television role was in medical drama ''
All Saints'' playing the recurring role of Claudia McKenzie from 2000 to 2001. She then played
Detective Senior Constable Amy Fox in long-running police procedural television show ''
Blue Heelers
''Blue Heelers'' is an Australian police drama series that was produced by Southern Star Group and ran for twelve years on the Seven Network, from 1994 to 2006. Although based around the policing of the town, the series generally depicted th ...
'', from 2004 to 2006. She starred in long-running soap opera ''
Neighbours
''Neighbours'' is an Australian television soap opera that has aired since 18 March 1985. It was created by television executive Reg Watson. The Seven Network commissioned the show following the success of Watson's earlier soap '' Sons and ...
'' in 2007, playing
Charlotte Stone. She followed this with a recurring role in soap opera ''
Home and Away
''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...
'', playing
Jazz Curtis, the estranged mother of
Drew Curtis
Drew Curtis (born February 7, 1973) is the founder and an administrator of Fark, an Internet news aggregator. He is also the author of '' It's Not News, It's FARK: How Mass Media Tries to Pass off Crap as News'' in May 2007. He is a guest on WO ...
from 2007 to 2008.
Gordon appeared in a recurring capacity in the mystery drama thriller ''
Winter
Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...
'' as Melanie Winter from 2010 to 2015. During this time, she also starred in comedy series ''
The Moodys
''The Moodys'' is an Australian television comedy series, which follows on from ''A Moody Christmas''. ''The Moodys'' began airing on ABC on 5 February 2014 and aired in the United States on Hulu in Spring 2014.
Originally written and created ...
'' in a main role as Bridget Quaill, from 2012 to 2014, reprising the role in ''
A Moody Christmas
''A Moody Christmas'' is an Australian television comedy series that follows the adventures of Dan Moody, who returns home from London to spend each Christmas with his dysfunctional family. It was created and written by Trent O'Donnell and Phi ...
''.
In 2016, Gordon began appearing alongside
Jessica Mauboy
Jessica Hilda Mauboy (; born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the Australian Idol (season 4), fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and s ...
in
Seven Network
Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
drama series ''
The Secret Daughter
''The Secret Daughter'' is an Australian television drama series which premiered on the Seven Network on 3 October 2016. The series is written by Justin Monjo, Greg Haddrick, Louise Bowes and Keith Thompson and directed by Leah Purcell, Geof ...
'' playing Susan Norton until 2017. The following year she had a main role as Bridget Kovacec in comedy series ''
Back in Very Small Business''.
In 2022, Gordon appeared in drama series ''
The Twelve'' for four episodes, as Emily Cavanaugh, opposite
Sam Neill
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile acto ...
and
Brendan Cowell
Brendan Cowell is an Australian actor and writer. He is known for his lead role in 2024 television series ''Plum'' that he created, based on his 2021 novel of the same name.
Early life and education
Brendan Cowell was born in Sydney and grew u ...
. In 2023, she starred as fictional
Australian Prime Minister Rebecca Stewart in the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Queen of Oz'',
created by English comedian
Catherine Tate
Catherine Tate (born Catherine Jane Ford, 5 December 1969) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC Two, BBC sketch comedy series ''The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007), as well as bein ...
.
Gordon's television guest appearances include ''
Big Sky'' (1997), ''
White Collar Blue
''White Collar Blue'' is an Australian television series made by Knapman-Wyld Television for Network Ten from 2002 to 2003.
Starring Peter O'Brien as Joe Hill and Freya Stafford as Harriet Walker, the series dealt with a division of the po ...
'' (2002), ''
Farscape
''Farscape'' is an Australian-American Science fiction on television, science fiction television series conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by The Jim Henson Company and Hallmark Entertainment, originally for the Nine Network. It prem ...
'' (2003), ''
The Cooks
''The Cooks'' was an Australian television drama series that ran for one season on Network Ten during the summer of 2004/05. It was a co-production with subscription television and screened on the UKTV channel on Foxtel. It was produced by Penny ...
'' (2005) ''
The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting
''The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting'' was a six-part sketch comedy series produced by Australian production house Jungleboys. It first aired in Australia on ABC TV on 3 April 2013.
Cast
* Craig Anderson
* Damon Herriman
* D ...
'' (2013), ''
Playing for Keeps'' (2019) and ''Made in Rhode Island'' (2020). Her most recent television appearance was in an episode of the anthology series ''
Erotic Stories'' in 2023.
Gordon's film credits include ''
Thunderstruck'' (2004) opposite
Sam Worthington, mockumentary comedy ''
Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance'' (2007) and Australian-American psychological thriller ''
Angel of Mine'' (2019) alongside
Luke Evans,
Noomi Rapace
Noomi Rapace (; ; born 28 December 1979) is a Swedish actress.Karen Olsson, ''The New York Times Magazine'', 27 May 2012, p. 26. She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of the ''Mil ...
and fellow Australian
Yvonne Strahovski
Yvonne Jaqueline Strzechowski (born 30 July 1982), known professionally as Yvonne Strahovski (), is an Australian actress. She is known for roles as Sarah Walker in the spy comedy drama series '' Chuck'' (2007–2012), Hannah McKay in the dra ...
. She has also appeared in the made-for-television movies ''
Never Tell Me Never'' (1998) as Angela, ''
Comedy Showroom: The Letdown'' (2016) as Mandy.
Personal life
Gordon lived in a share house with fellow actor
Ian Stenlake and other students, while she was studying at NIDA.
[
In late 2004, Gordon married her partner of 11 years, actor Scott Johnson, who she met at NIDA. They divorced in 2009.
She later married actor Jon Sivewright, who she met on the set of '']Home and Away
''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian television soap opera. It was created by Alan Bateman and commenced broadcast on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. Bateman came up with the concept of the show during a trip to Kangaroo Point, N ...
''. Together they have two children.[
Gordon was trained by ]Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American former politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He previously served as ...
and the Australian Conservation Foundation
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is Australia's national environmental organisation, launched in 1965 in response to a proposal by the World Wide Fund for Nature for a more co-ordinated approach to sustainability.
One high-profi ...
as a presenter for The Climate Change Project in 2007.[
In 2008, she walked the ]Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...
with other celebrities in an effort to raise money for Olivia Newton-John's Cancer and Wellness Centre.[
]
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
[
]
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Rachel
1976 births
Australian film actresses
Australian television actresses
Living people
Actresses from Brisbane
National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni