Deborah Findlay
Deborah Findlay at the68th BFI London Film Festival premiere ofThat Christmas on 19 October 2024
Born	(1947-12-31)31 December 1947 (age 77) Leatherhead,Surrey, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1978–present

Deborah Findlay (born 31 December 1947)^[1] is an English actress. She has worked primarily on stage and is anOlivier Award Winner, but has also appeared in several TV series. She is known for playing the Defoe family matriarch Ruth in three series of the BBC TV legal dramaThe Split (2018–2022).

Findlay joined a theatre company while studying English at theUniversity of Leeds.^[2]

Findlay has worked primarily on stage, appearing in numerous productions, including the originalTop Girls. In the 1980s she worked with theRoyal Shakespeare Company where she appeared inTwelfth Night andThe Merchant Of Venice.^[3] In 1997 she won anOlivier Award, as well asOuter Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, for her performance as Hilda, the wife of the painter Stanley Spencer inPam Gems' playStanley.^[4]

In 2008, she starred in the US premiere ofVincent River byPhilip Ridley. In 2009 she appeared alongsideJudi Dench in aDonmar West End revival ofMadame de Sade.^{[citation needed]}

In 2013, she starred in the Donmar Warehouse production ofCoriolanus as Volumnia, a role which earned her Clarence Derwent award for best supporting actress.^[5]

In 2016, she appeared on the stage ofThe Royal Court Theatre twice: as Sally inCaryl Churchill'sEscaped Alone and as Hazel inLucy Kirkwood'sThe Children. She reprised her role duringThe Children's Broadway run, receiving aTony Award nomination.^{[citation needed]}

In 2018, she appeared at the Bridge Theatre in London, playing the role of Sister Gilchrist inAlan Bennett'sAllelujah!^[6]

Findlay's TV credits include Nurse Motte 1992Maigret with Michael Gambon; Gillian in theITV dramaThe Last Train (1999); and the recurring character Greer Thornton in four of the six episodes ofState of Play and in the episode "The French Drop" (2004) inFoyle's War.^{[citation needed]}

She appeared in four episodes of the 2001 series ofThe Armstrong and Miller Show and one episode of the acclaimed and original entry of theMessiah TV series. In autumn 2007 she appeared withJudi Dench,Imelda Staunton andFrancesca Annis in the BBC1 costume drama seriesCranford, playing the role of the spinster Miss Tompkinson, as well as inWilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale. She reprised her (in this case more prominent) role as Miss Tompkinson^[7] in the two-part Christmas specialReturn to Cranford.^{[citation needed]}

She portrayed Home Secretary Denise Riley inTorchwood's 2009 third seriesChildren of Earth. She was featured in separate episodes as agent Mary Carter in October 2003 and lawyer Gemma King in January 2010 of the BBC1 seriesSilent Witness. In 2010 she also appeared inAgatha Christie’s Poirot “Hallowe’en Party” as Rowena Drake. She also appeared in two episodes of the ITV seriesMidsomer Murders: as Hilary Richards in "Blue Herrings" (2000) and as Lorna Sloane in "Murder by Magic" (2015).^{[citation needed]}

Findlay played Sarah Cushing in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes episodeThe Cardboard Box, which aired on television on the 11 April 1994.^[8]

In episodes aired in 2018, 2020 and 2022 she portrayed Ruth in three series of the BBC TV legal dramaThe Split.^{[citation needed]}

Findlay's radio credits include Sally inClosed to Visitors by Dawn Lowe-Watson onBBC Radio 4 in 1992 and Hermione Pink in the BBC Radio 4 DramaThe Ferryhill Philosophers, starting in 2015.^[9]Findlay played Miss Dredger in BBC Radio 4 Drama Mr Pye 2023.

• Deborah Findlay atIMDb

• 1947 births
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• Actresses from Surrey
• English film actresses
• English radio actresses
• English Shakespearean actresses
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• English voice actresses
• Laurence Olivier Award winners
• Living people
• People from Leatherhead
• Royal Shakespeare Company members
• Alumni of the University of Leeds

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
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• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2023