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Rachel Gordon

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, and her great-grandmother was Dame Enid Lyons, who was the first woman in the Australian parliament.[1] Gordon is a 1997 graduate of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (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, Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company, Queensland Theatre Company, Ensemble Theatre and Marian Street Theatre.[2]

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, from 2004 to 2006. She starred in long-running soap opera Neighbours in 2007, playing Charlotte Stone. She followed this with a recurring role in soap opera Home and Away, playing Jazz Curtis, the estranged mother of Drew Curtis from 2007 to 2008.[3][4]

Gordon appeared in a recurring capacity in the mystery drama thriller Winter as Melanie Winter from 2010 to 2015. During this time, she also starred in comedy series The Moodys in a main role as Bridget Quaill, from 2012 to 2014, reprising the role in A Moody Christmas.

In 2016, Gordon began appearing alongside Jessica Mauboy in Seven Network drama series The Secret Daughter playing Susan Norton until 2017.[5] 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 and Brendan Cowell. In 2023, she starred as fictional Australian Prime Minister Rebecca Stewart in the BBC sitcom Queen of Oz,[6] created by English comedian Catherine Tate.[7]

Gordon's television guest appearances include Big Sky (1997), White Collar Blue (2002), Farscape (2003), The Cooks (2005) The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting (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 and fellow Australian Yvonne Strahovski. 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.[8]

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. Together they have two children.[8]

Gordon was trained by Al Gore and the Australian Conservation Foundation as a presenter for The Climate Change Project in 2007.[8]

In 2008, she walked the Great Wall of China with other celebrities in an effort to raise money for Olivia Newton-John's Cancer and Wellness Centre.[8]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2004 Thunderstruck Molly
2004 A Whole New You Woman in Middle Management Short film
2007 Razzle Dazzle: A Journey into Dance Vomit Child's Mother
2019 Angel of Mine Ellen

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Big Sky Tara Brown / Lisa "Wishing and Hoping"
1998 Never Tell Me Never Angela TV film
2000–2001 All Saints Claudia McKenzie Recurring role
2002 White Collar Blue Mardi Peters "1.12"
2003 Farscape Lo'Laan "Mental as Anything"
2004–2006 Blue Heelers Amy Fox Main role
2005 The Cooks Annette "Sticky"
2007 Neighbours Dr. Charlotte Stone Recurring role
2007–2008 Home and Away Jazz Curtis Recurring role
2012 The Moodys Bridget Quaill Main role
2012 A Moody Christmas Bridget Quaill Main role
2013 The Elegant Gentleman's Guide to Knife Fighting Special Guest "1.1", "1.2", "1.3"
2014 The Moodys[9] Bridget Quaill Main role
2010–15 Winter Melanie Winter Recurring role
2016 Comedy Showroom: The Letdown Mandy TV movie
2016–2017 The Secret Daughter[10] Susan Norton 12 episodes
2018 Back in Very Small Business[11] Bridget Kovacec Main Role
2019 Playing for Keeps Narelle Baxter "2.5"
2020 Made in Rhode Island Girl at The Bar Pilot
2022 The Twelve Emily Cavanaugh 4 episodes
2023 Queen of Oz Rebecca Stewart 6 episodes[7]
Erotic Stories Sandra 1 episode

Theatre

Year Title Role Notes
1997 Death Defying Acts Juliet Marian St Theatre, Sydney
1997 Macbeth Lady Macduff Bell Shakespeare
1998 Out There Sasha Hair of the Dog
1998 Light Particles Beth Griffin Theatre Company, Sydney
1998 All Things Considered Laura Marian St Theatre, Sydney
1999 The Taming of the Shrew Bianca Sydney Botanic Gardens with EHJ Productions
1999 Last Nights of Ballyhoo Sunny Freitag Marian St Theatre, Sydney
1999 Big Hair in America Reba HotHouse Theatre
2000 Wit Susie Monoghan / RN & BSN Ensemble Theatre, Sydney
2001 Crimes of the Heart Meg Magrath Marian St Theatre, Sydney
2001 Don Juan Charlotte STC
2008 Boeing Boeing Gabriella New Theatricals
2009 Concussion STC / Griffin Theatre Company
2009 Ninety Isabel MTC / QTC
2010 King Lear Regan / Jane Bell Shakespeare
2010 Let the Sunshine Emma MTC / QTC
2012 Managing Carmen Jessica Ensemble Theatre, Sydney
2012 Between Two Waves Grenelle Griffin Theatre Company
2014 Daylight Saving Felicity Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Sydney[8]
2015 Boston Marriage Claire QPAC, Brisbane & QLD regional tour with QTC[12]
2016 Jasper Jones Mrs Bucktin MTC
2017 Odd Man Out Various characters Ensemble Theatre, Sydney
2018 The Norman Conquests Trilogy Ruth Ensemble Theatre, Sydney

[2]

References

  1. ^ Litson, Jo (25 October 2014). "Logie award nominee Rachel Gordon struts her stuff on stage in charming romantic comedy". The Sunday Telegraph.
  2. ^ a b "Rachel Gordon" (PDF). Shanahan.
  3. ^ "MTV Music". MTV. Archived from the original on 21 November 2014.
  4. ^ "Logie award nominee Rachel Gordon struts her stuff on stage in charming romantic comedy". Sydney. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2014.
  5. ^ Halliwell, Elle (17 April 2016). "Jessica Mauboy to begin filming on new series The Secret Daughter". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
  6. ^ Reporters, The Telegraph (7 February 2020). "What's on TV tonight: Best Interests, Sarah Beeny vs Cancer and more". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  7. ^ a b "BBC One – Queen of Oz, Series 1, Episode 1". BBC. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e "Rachel Gordon interview". Jo Litson: Scene and Heard. 14 November 2014.
  9. ^ "Cameras roll on the Moodys | TV Tonight". 13 September 2013.
  10. ^ "More cast as cameras roll on the Secret Daughter | TV Tonight". 18 April 2016.
  11. ^ "Cameras roll on Back in Very Small Business | TV Tonight". 4 December 2017.
  12. ^ "The Forbidden Love of Rachel Gordon". Scenestr. 19 January 2015.