Rachel Gordon

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.

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.

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, whom she met at NIDA.^[9] They divorced in 2009.

She later married actor Jon Sivewright, whom 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]

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