Deborah Findlay

Deborah Findlay
Findlay at the BFI London Film Festival premiere of That Christmas in 2024
Born	(1947-12-31) 31 December 1947 Leatherhead, Surrey, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1978–present

Deborah Findlay (born 31 December 1947) is an English actress. She has worked primarily on stage and is an Olivier 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 drama The Split (2018–2022).

Early life and education

Findlay joined a theatre company while studying English at the University of Leeds.

Career

Theatre

Findlay has worked primarily on stage, appearing in numerous productions, including the original Top Girls. In the 1980s she worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company where she appeared in Twelfth Night and The Merchant Of Venice. In 1997 she won an Olivier Award, as well as Outer Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, for her performance as Hilda, the wife of the painter Stanley Spencer in Pam Gems' play Stanley.

In 2008, she starred in the US premiere of Vincent River by Philip Ridley. In 2009 she appeared alongside Judi Dench in a Donmar West End revival of Madame de Sade.

In 2013, she starred in the Donmar Warehouse production of Coriolanus as Volumnia, a role which earned her Clarence Derwent award for best supporting actress.

In 2016, she appeared on the stage of The Royal Court Theatre twice: as Sally in Caryl Churchill's Escaped Alone and as Hazel in Lucy Kirkwood's The Children. She reprised her role during The Children's Broadway run, receiving a Tony Award nomination.

In 2018, she appeared at the Bridge Theatre in London, playing the role of Sister Gilchrist in Alan Bennett's Allelujah!

Television

Findlay's TV credits include Nurse Motte 1992 Maigret with Michael Gambon; Gillian in the ITV drama The Last Train (1999); and the recurring character Greer Thornton in four of the six episodes of State of Play and in the episode "The French Drop" (2004) in Foyle's War.

She appeared in four episodes of the 2001 series of The Armstrong and Miller Show and one episode of the acclaimed and original entry of the Messiah TV series. In autumn 2007 she appeared with Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton and Francesca Annis in the BBC1 costume drama series Cranford, playing the role of the spinster Miss Tompkinson, as well as in Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale. She reprised her (in this case more prominent) role as Miss Tompkinson in the two-part Christmas special Return to Cranford.

She portrayed Home Secretary Denise Riley in Torchwood's 2009 third series Children 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 series Silent Witness. In 2010 she also appeared in Agatha Christie’s Poirot “Hallowe’en Party” as Rowena Drake. She also appeared in two episodes of the ITV series Midsomer Murders: as Hilary Richards in "Blue Herrings" (2000) and as Lorna Sloane in "Murder by Magic" (2015).

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

In episodes aired in 2018, 2020 and 2022 she portrayed Ruth in three series of the BBC TV legal drama The Split.

Radio

Findlay's radio credits include Sally in Closed to Visitors by Dawn Lowe-Watson on BBC Radio 4 in 1992 and Hermione Pink in the BBC Radio 4 Drama The Ferryhill Philosophers, starting in 2015. Findlay played Miss Dredger in BBC Radio 4 Drama Mr Pye 2023.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Truly Madly Deeply	Claire
1995	Jack & Sarah	Miss Cartwright
1999	The End of the Affair	Miss Smythe
2001	Me Without You	Judith
	A Loving Act	Dr. Emily Smith	Short film
2004	Vanity Fair	Mrs. Sedley
2008	Summer	Doctor Price
	One of Those Days	Supervisor	Short film
2011	Arthur Christmas	General (voice)
2014	National Theatre Live: Coriolanus	Volumnia
	Suite Française	Madame Joseph
2015	The Lady in the Van	Pauline
	The Ones Below	Tessa
2016	Jackie	Maud Shaw
	Kaleidoscope	Maureen
2017	Hampstead	Mary Neal
2018	National Theatre Live: Allelujah!	Sister Gilchrist
2019	Making Noise Quietly	Helene Ensslin
2021	From A Strange Land	Margaret	Short film
2022	Up on the Roof	Claire
2024	That Christmas	Mrs. Horton (voice)
TBA	Such A Lovely Day	Granny	Pre-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978–1980	The English Programme	Unknown	3 episodes
1982	Play for Today	Ingy	Episode: "Commitments"
1983	Busted	Angela	Television film
1984	Shroud for a Nightingale	Heather Pearce	2 episodes
	Dramarama	Nurse	Episode: "Rachel and Rosie"
1986	Ladies in Charge	Hetty	Episode: "Zoe's Fever"
	What If It's Raining	Marilyn	3 episodes
1989	First and Last	Lisa	Television film
1991	All Good Things	Doll	5 episodes
	Performance	Isabella / Joyce / Mrs. Kidd	Episode: "Top Girls"
	The House of Bernarda Alba	Martirio	Television film
1992	Anglo Saxon Attitudes	Kay Consett	3 episodes
	Natural Lies	Grace	3 episodes
	Downtown Lagos	Celia Dawson	3 episodes
1993	Maigret	Juliette Motte	Episode: "Maigret on the Defensive"
	15: The Life and Death of Philip Knight	Cheryl Morris	Television film
1994	The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes	Sarah Cushing	Episode: "The Cardboard Box"
	Milner	Sylvia Milner	Television film
1994, 1997	Casualty	Caroline Palmer / Debbie Cookson	2 episodes
1996	The Vet	Anna Walker	Episode: "Out of the Past"
1997	Jane Eyre	Mrs Reed	Television film
1998	Heat of the Sun	Matilda Watcham	Episode: "Hide in Plain Sight"
	Kavanagh QC	Susannah Emmott	Episode: "Bearing Witness"
	Trial and Retribution	DC Jill Ashton	2 episodes
1999	The Last Train	Gillian	Episode: "Episode #1.5"
	Wives and Daughters	Miss Phoebe	4 episodes
2000	Anna Karenina	Countess Lydia	4 episodes
	The Bill	DSU Wray	Episode: "Fifty-Fifty"
	Comedy Lab	Roxanne Anderson	Episode: "Anderson"
2000−2015	Midsomer Murders	Lorna Sloane / Hilary Richards	2 episodes
2001	The Armstrong and Miller Show	Various	4 episodes
	Messiah	Clarissa Buchanan	Episode: "The First Killings"
2003	State of Mind	D.C.I. Stella Munroe	Television film
	State of Play	Greer Thornton	4 episodes
	Home	Margaret Ballantyne	Television film
2003–2010	Silent Witness	Gemma King / Mary Carter	4 episodes
2004	Foyle's War	Mrs Thorndyke / Evelyn Cresswell	Episode: "The French Drop"
2006	Thin Ice	Jeanette	TV miniseries
	The Family Man	Mary	Television film
2007	This Life + 10	Doctor	Television film
	The Yellow House	Madame Roulin	Television film
	The Good Samaritan	Eileen Mayhew	Television film
	Who Gets the Dog?	Pamela Wilson	Television film
	Wilfred Owen: A Remembrance Tale	Susan Owen	Television film
2007–2009	Cranford	Miss Tomkinson	7 episodes
2008	Lewis	Lady Hugh	Episode: "Life Born of Fire"
	Heartbeat	Eva Knight	Episode: "Out of the Long Dark Knight"
2009	Gunrush	Jill	Television film
	Torchwood	Denise Riley	2 episodes
2010	Poirot	Rowena Drake	Episode: "Hallowe'en Party"
	Law & Order: UK	Kim Sharkey	Episode: "Broken"
2011	The Trouble with Tolstoy	Sophia Tolstoy (voice)	Television film
	New Tricks	Helen Gilder	Episode: "Setting Out Your Stall"
2012	Holby City	Philippa Pawlowski	2 episodes
	Leaving	Vanessa	3 episodes
2013	Starlings	Sandra	Episode: "Episode #2.6"
2015	Life in Squares	Aunt Jane	Episode: "Episode #1.1"
	Coalition	Harriet Harman	Television film
	Comedy Blaps	Harriet	Episode: "High and Dry Blap"
2016	Lovesick	Fiona	Episode: "Jonesy?"
2018	Collateral	Eleanor Shaw	2 episodes
2018–2022	The Split	Ruth	18 episodes
2021	The Drowning	Lynn	4 episodes
	Romeo and Juliet	Nurse	Television film
2023	Dalgliesh	Miss Willard	2 episodes

External links

• Deborah Findlay at IMDb