于1968年7月28日出生于婆罗洲。她的父亲哈罗德·布莱克利（Harold Blakely）是美国人，母亲是澳大利亚人。由于她父亲的石油生意，包括妹妹露丝在内的全家多年来搬到了几个国家，直到布莱克利十二岁时在澳大利亚的一个农场定居。在成为演员之前，布莱克利曾担任夜总会保镖、模特和短期厨师;是她前夫的建议，她试镜了《邻居》的一个角色 在业余时间，布莱克利喜欢露营、缝纫、绘画、烹饪和睡觉。她最喜欢的作家是玛格丽特·阿特伍德和特蕾西·谢瓦利埃，她最喜欢的电影是《玛格特女王》和《破浪》。布莱克利于 1990 年与演员彼得·克雷格结婚，但几年后他们离婚了。她在《南海传说》的片场遇到了她现在的搭档，特技演员肖恩·里格比。他们的第一个孩子 Cooper Lee Rigby 出生于 2003 年 9 月，他们的第二个孩子 Nash Rigby 出生于 2009 年初。布莱克利在澳大利亚和洛杉矶之间分配时间。她拥有美国和澳大利亚双重国籍。

Rachel Leigh Blakely was born on 28 July 1968 in Borneo. Her father, Harold Blakely, is an American, and her mother was Australian. Due to her father's oil business, the family, including younger sister Ruth, moved to several countries over the years until settling on an Australian farm when Blakely was twelve. Before she became an actress, Blakely worked as a nightclub bouncer, a model and a short order cook; it was her ex-husband's suggestion that she audition for a role on Neighbours In her spare time, Blakely enjoys camping, sewing, painting, cooking and sleeping. Her favourite authors are Margaret Atwood and Tracy Chevalier, and her favourite movies are Queen Margot and Breaking the Waves. Blakely married fellow actor Peter Craig in 1990, but they divorced some years later. She met her current partner, stuntman Sean Rigby, on the set of Tales of the South Seas. Their first child, Cooper Lee Rigby, was born in September 2003, and their second child, Nash Rigby, was born in early 2009. Blakely splits her time between Australia and Los Angeles. She possesses dual American-Australian citizenship.