Her mother was Ada Emily Windson (born Lawrence) and her father was Wilson Duff-Forbes.

[1] In 1916 she joined the British actor Allan Wilkie who led George Marlow's new Grand Shakespearean Company.

[5] Forbes was able to play roles including Cleopatra, but she was generally overshadowed by the company's leading lady.

[1] Wilkie maintained a varied Shakespearean programme and no play was performed on consecutive nights.

[6] She formed the Lorna Forbes School of Drama in Melbourne in 1924, and six years later Wilkie disbanded his troupe in October 1930[7] at the onset of the Great Depression and the emergence of the "talkies".