Deborah Findlay was born in 1947 in Surrey and read English at Leeds University. She worked in Leeds with a theatre group touring plays, music, community theatre and cabaret before coming to London to work at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in 1978. She was in the original production of 'Top Girls' by Caryl Churchill (OBIE Award) and seasons at the RSC and National Theatre where she received an Olivier Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for 'Stanley'.