Not to be confused with the later film actress Ruth Findlay (1917–1976)



Ruth Findlay (19 September 1896 - 13 July 1949) was an American stage actress active over the early decades of the twentieth century.

Biography

Findlay was born on 19 September 1896 in The Heights, a neighborhood of Jersey City, New Jersey. Her parents were John and Margaret Findlay, both originally from Scotland. Her father, a character actor known for his portrayal of butlers and priests, was born in Glasgow with the surname Macpherson.

Findlay was raised in New York City where she attended private schools and first appeared on stage at around the age of twelve in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch and later Baby Mine at Daly’s Theatre. Her first major role came a few years later in a road production of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm and in 1917 found success playing Marguerite in A Successful Calamity at Broadway’s Booth Theatre. In November 1920 the diminutive 5’2” actress began a seven month run at Booth Theatre playing the dual roles, Tom Canty and Prince Edward, in The Prince and the Pauper. Ruth Findlay’s last Broadway performances were playing Deborah Hawks in the 1941/42 production of The Land Is Bright at the Music Box Theatre. Over the early years of her acting career Findlay appeared in at least six silent films all produced before 1920. Her most notable film performance may have been as Dora Baxter in The Salamander (1916), a film based on the 1913 novel by Owen Johnson. A short list of artist she worked with over her career would include William Gillette, William Farnum, Eugene Obrien, Lionel Barrymore and William Faversham.

Findlay left the stage within a year or so after her marriage to investment banker Donald W. Lamb in 1927. In 1941 she came out of retirement to appear in The Land Is Bright, a play written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber.

Ruth Findlay Lamb died in New York City on 13 July 1949. She was survived by her husband, three sisters and a brother.