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Ruby Dee

Journalist / Stage Actress / Film Actress / Television Actress / Screenwriter / Film Producer / Poet | * 10/27/1924 († 89, 06/11/2014) | Cleveland, Ohio (United States of America (USA))
Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. Dee was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades including two Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, a Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1995, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2000, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. Dee started her career with the American Negro Theatre. She made her Broadway debut in South Pacific (1943). She met her future husband working together on the play Jeb (1946). She originated the Broadway roles of Ruth Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and reprised the role in the 1961 film and Lutiebell Gussie Mae Jenkins in the Ossie Davis play Purlie Victorious (1961) and reprised the role in the 1963 film. She made her film debut in ()
Photo of Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun. Her other notable film roles include The Jackie Robinson Story and Do the Right Thing.

Most frequent genres for this person: Drama | Documentaries | Comedies

Known for these Movies & Shows

Awards & Nominations for Ruby Dee

Spingarn Medal National Medal of Arts Marian Anderson Award Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award NAACP Image Award – Chairman's Award Kennedy Center Honors Humanitarian of The Year Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame Paul Robeson Award Crystal Award Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Audie Award for Best Female Narrator Honorary Degree From Spelman College Ohio Women's Hall of Fame Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
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Movies with Ruby Dee as Actress(77)

as Narrator2013 Betty and Coretta
as Annie McCall2012 A Thousand Words
as Valerie2011 Video Girl
as Mrs. Harper2009 America
as Ms. Ella2007 All About Us
as Mama Lucas2007 American Gangster
as Doris2007 Steam
as Nanna Maria2006 No. 2
as (archive footage)2004 TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
as Emelda West2001 Taking Back Our Town
as Elsie Claviere2001 Feast of All Saints
as Grandmother2000 A Storm in Summer
as Mrs. Henry2000 Finding Buck McHenry
as Mommit Porter1999 Passing Glory
as Margo1999 Baby Geniuses
as Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany1999 Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
as Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")1998 The Wall
as Self (archive footage)1997 Sports on the Silver Screen
as Hortence1997 A Simple Wish
as Sophia1996 Mr. and Mrs. Loving
as Evangeline Ferguson1995 Just Cause
as Grandmother (voice)1994 Whitewash
as Mrs. Lydia Wilson1993 The Ernest Green Story
as Rachel1993 Cop and ½
as Narrator1992 Color Adjustment
as Lucinda Purify1991 Jungle Fever
as Narrator (voice)1991 Jazztime Tale
as Rowena1990 Decoration Day
as Zora Neale Hurston1990 Zora is My Name!
as Corrine Dart1990 Love at Large
as Mother Sister1989 Do the Right Thing
as Mrs. Grimes1984 Go Tell It on the Mountain
as Female1982 Cat People
as Irene Whitfield1980 All God's Children
as Grandmother Baxter1979 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
as Leah Matanzima1976 Countdown at Kusini
as Ruth Campanella1974 It's Good to Be Alive
as Julia Augustine1974 Wedding Band
as Netta's mother1972 Black Girl
as Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters1972 To Be Young, Gifted and Black
as Sue Ann Lucas1971 The Sheriff
as Lucinda1969 Deadlock
as Laurie1968 Uptight
as Joan Robinson1967 The Incident
as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins1963 Gone Are the Days!
as Thief1963 The Balcony
as Ruth Younger1961 A Raisin in the Sun
as Christine1959 Take a Giant Step
as Ruth1959 Virgin Island
as Elizabeth1958 St. Louis Blues
as Lucy Tyler1957 Edge of the City
as Irma Jackson1954 Go Man Go
as Rachel1951 The Tall Target
as Connie Brooks (uncredited)1950 No Way Out
as Rae Robinson1950 The Jackie Robinson Story
as Drugstore Girl1947 Easy to Get
as Joan1946 That Man of Mine

TV Shows/Series with Ruby Dee as Actress(19)

as herself2005 Iconoclasts
as Estelle Williams1992 Middle Ages
as Elizabeth Keckley1988 Lincoln
as Narrator (voice)1988 American Experience
as Mammy Watkins1985 The Golden Girls
as Faye Williams1985 The Atlanta Child Murders
as Queen Victoria Haley1979 Roots: The Next Generations
as herself1971 Great Performances
as Self - Guest1968 The Dick Cavett Show
as Harriet Tubman1963 The Great Adventure
as Laura Smith1963 The Fugitive
as Catherine Collins1961 The Defenders
as Rowena Finch1951 Hallmark Hall of Fame

Movies with Ruby Dee as Crew(1)

Writing/Writer1968 Uptight

Full Name: Ruby Dee
Born: Monday, 10/27 1924 (October) in Cleveland, Ohio (United States of America (USA))
Died: Wednesday, 06/11 2014 (June) in New Rochelle (aged: 89)
Zodiac sign: Scorpio (Chinese zodiac sign: Rat)
Languages: English (EN)
Educated at: Hunter College, Hunter College High School
Spouses (current/former): Ossie Davis
Ruby Dee frequently works together with these people:
Ossie Davis (30x, Actor)
James Earl Jones (12x, Actor)
Julie Harris (12x, Actress)
Maurice Evans (11x, Actor)
Murray Hamilton (10x, Actor)
Spike Lee (10x, Crew)
J.D. Cannon (10x, Actor)
Val Avery (10x, Actor)
Sidney Poitier (9x, Actor)
William Shatner (9x, Actor)
Jason Robards (9x, Actor)
George Rose (9x, Actor)
WatchPlayStream ID: PEOPLE:7236, Added: 03/23/2018, Last updated: 03/23/2024