Ruth Findlay

Ruth Findlay (September 19, 1896 – July 13, 1949) was an American stage actress whose Broadway career spanned from 1910 to 1941. She is distinct from the later film actress Ruth Findlay (1917–1976).

Findlay was born in The Heights, a neighborhood of Jersey City, New Jersey, to John and Margaret Findlay, both of Scottish origin. Her father, a character actor known for playing butlers and priests, had been born in Glasgow under the surname Macpherson. Raised in New York City, Findlay attended private schools and made her first stage appearances around the age of 12, including productions of Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch and Baby Mine at Daly's Theatre. Her early career also included a road production of Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm before she secured her first significant Broadway role in 1917, playing Marguerite in A Successful Calamity at the Booth Theatre.

In November 1920, Findlay returned to the Booth Theatre for a seven-month run in Amélie Rives' stage adaptation of Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper, taking on the dual roles of Tom Canty and Prince Edward. Standing 5 feet 2 inches tall, she went on to appear in numerous Broadway productions over the following years, including the musical Gypsy, the plays Window Panes, Man or Devil, and Anything Might Happen, among others. Over the course of her stage career, she worked alongside William Gillette, William Farnum, Eugene O'Brien, Lionel Barrymore, and William Faversham.

During the early years of her career, Findlay also appeared in at least six silent films, all produced before 1920. Among these, her role as Dora Baxter in The Salamander (1916), based on Owen Johnson's 1913 novel, stands as one of her more notable film performances.

Findlay stepped away from the stage following her 1927 marriage to investment banker Donald W. Lamb. She came out of retirement in 1941 to play Deborah Hawks in The Land Is Bright at the Music Box Theatre, a play written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, which marked her final Broadway appearance. Ruth Findlay Lamb died in New York City on July 13, 1949, survived by her husband, three sisters, and a brother.