Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright,

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

, journalist, and

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life ...

activist. She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of '' A Raisin in the Sun'' (1961). Her other notable film roles include '' The Jackie Robinson Story'' (1950) and ''

Do the Right Thing ''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jackso ...

'' (1989). Dee was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. For her performance as Mama Lucas in '' American Gangster'' (2007), Dee was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Female Actor in a Supporting Role. Dee was a Grammy,

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, Obie and Drama Desk winner. She was also a National Medal of Arts, Kennedy Center Honors and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award recipient.

Early life

Dee was born on October 27, 1922, in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

,"Ruby Dee marks 90th birthday with new documentary about her illustrious life with late husband Ossie Davis"
''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ...

'', November 13, 2012. the daughter of Gladys (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Hightower) and Marshall Edward Nathaniel Wallace, a cook, waiter and porter. After her mother left the family, Dee's father remarried, to Emma Amelia Benson, a schoolteacher. Dee was raised in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater H ...

. Prior to attending Hunter College High School, she studied at Public Schools 119 and 136. Then, she went on to graduate from

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admin ...

with a degree in

Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language ...

s in 1945. She was a member of

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emph ...

Career

Dee joined the American Negro Theatre as an apprentice, working with

Sidney Poitier Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...

, and Hilda Simms. She made several appearances on Broadway, such as her first role in ANT's 1946 production of Anna Lucasta. Her first onscreen role was in ''That Man of Mine'' in 1946. She received national recognition for her role in the 1950 film '' The Jackie Robinson Story''. In 1965, Dee performed in lead roles at the

American Shakespeare Festival The American Shakespeare Theatre was a theater company based in Stratford, Connecticut, United States. It was formed in the early 1950s by Lawrence Langner, Lincoln Kirstein, John Percy Burrell, and philanthropist Joseph Verner Reed. The Amer ...

as Kate in ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunk ...

'' and Cordelia in ''

King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...

'', becoming the first black actress to portray a lead role in the festival. Her career in acting crossed all major forms of media over a span of eight decades, including the films '' A Raisin in the Sun'', in which she recreated her stage role as a suffering housewife in the projects, and '' Edge of the City''. She played both roles opposite Poitier. A Raisin in the Sun 1959

During the 1960s, Dee appeared in '' Gone Are the Days!'' and '' The Incident''. In 1969, Dee appeared in 20 episodes of '' Peyton Place''. She appeared as Cora Sanders, a Marxist college professor, in the Season 1/Episode 14 of '' Police Woman'', entitled "Target Black" which aired on Friday night, January 3, 1975. The character of Cora Sanders was obviously, but loosely, influenced by the real-life Angela Davis. She appeared in one episode of '' The Golden Girls sixth season. She played Queen Haley in '' Roots: The Next Generations'', a 1979

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

. Dee was nominated for eight

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

, winning once for her role in the 1990 TV film ''

Decoration Day Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monday ...

''. She was nominated for her television guest appearance in the '' China Beach'' episode, "Skylark". Her husband Ossie Davis (1917–2005) also appeared in the episode. She appeared in

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

's 1989 film ''

'', and his 1991 film '' Jungle Fever''. In 1995, she and Davis were awarded the National Medal of Arts. They were also recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. In 2003, she narrated a series of WPA & slave narratives in the HBO film ''

Unchained Memories ''Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives'' is a 2003 American documentary film about the stories of former slaves interviewed during the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project and preserved in the WPA Slave Narrative Colle ...

''. In 2007 the winner of the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album was shared by Dee and Ossie Davis for ''With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together'', and former President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

. Dee was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2007 for her portrayal of Mama Lucas in '' American Gangster''. She won the Screen Actors Guild award for the same performance. At 85 years of age, Dee is currently the third oldest nominee for Best Supporting Actress, behind Gloria Stuart and

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

(both 87) when nominated for her role in ''American Gangster''. This was Dee's only Oscar nomination. On February 12, 2009, Dee joined the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College orchestra and chorus, along with the Riverside Inspirational Choir and NYC Labor Choir, in honoring Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday at the Riverside Church in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Under the direction of Maurice Peress, they performed

Earl Robinson Earl Hawley Robinson (July 2, 1910 – July 20, 1991) was a composer, arranger and folk music singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington. Robinson is remembered for his music, including the cantata " Ballad for Americans" and songs such as " ...

's ''The Lonesome Train: A Music Legend for Actors, Folk Singers, Choirs, and Orchestra'', in which Dee was the narrator. Dee's last role in a theatrically released film was in the

Eddie Murphy Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...

comedy '' A Thousand Words'', in which she portrayed the mother of Murphy's protagonist. Perhaps, her penultimate film role is in ''1982'', which premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was released on home video on March 1, 2016. It is unknown whether her final role will ever be seen, as ''King Dog'' was in production at the time of her death, and no release date has ever been announced.

Personal life and activism

Ruby Wallace married blues singer Frankie Dee Brown in 1941, and began using his middle name as her stage name. The couple divorced in 1945. Three years later she married actor Ossie Davis, whom she met while costarring in

Robert Ardrey Robert Ardrey (October 16, 1908 – January 14, 1980) was an American playwright, screenwriter and science writer perhaps best known for ''The Territorial Imperative'' (1966). After a Broadway and Hollywood career, he returned to his academic tr ...

's 1946 Broadway play '' Jeb''. Together, Dee and Davis wrote an autobiography in which they discussed their political activism and their decision to have an open marriage (later changing their views). Together they had three children: son, blues musician Guy Davis, and two daughters, Nora Day and Hasna Muhammad. Dee was a

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

survivor of more than three decades. Ruby Dee speaking

In 1979, the

Supersisters ''Supersisters'' was a set of 72 trading cards produced and distributed in the United States in 1979 by Supersisters, Inc. They featured famous women from politics, media and entertainment, culture, sports, and other areas of achievement. The c ...

trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Dee's name and picture. Dee and Davis were well-known

activists in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

. Dee was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&n ...

, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee,

sorority, and the

Southern Christian Leadership Conference The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civ ...

. She was also as an active member of the Harlem Writers Guild for over 40 years. In 1963, Dee emceed the

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...

. Dee and Davis were both personal friends of both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, with Davis giving the eulogy at Malcolm X's funeral in 1965. In 1970, she won the

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 1817 or 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. After escaping from slavery in Maryland, he became ...

Award from the New York

Urban League The National Urban League, formerly known as the National League on Urban Conditions Among Negroes, is a nonpartisan historic civil rights organization based in New York City that advocates on behalf of economic and social justice for African Am ...

Opera star Stacey Robinson (left) with actress Ruby Dee in 1998

In 1999, Dee and Davis were arrested at 1 Police Plaza, the headquarters of the

New York Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

, protesting the police shooting of

Amadou Diallo In the early hours of February 4, 1999, an unarmed 23-year-old Guinean student named Amadou Diallo (born September 2, 1975) was fired upon with 41 rounds and shot a total of 19 times by four New York City Police Department plainclothes offi ...

. In early 2003, ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper t ...

'' published "Not in Our Name", an open proclamation vowing opposition to the impending US

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were among the signatories, along with Robert Altman,

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky i ...

, Susan Sarandon, and Howard Zinn, among others. In November 2005, Dee was awarded – along with her late husband – the Lifetime Achievement Freedom Award, presented by the National Civil Rights Museum located in Memphis. Dee, a long-time resident of

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

, was inducted into the New Rochelle Walk of Fame which honors the most notable residents from throughout the community's 325-year history. She was also inducted into the Westchester County Women's Hall of Fame on March 30, 2007, joining such other honorees as

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

and Nita Lowey. In 2009, she received an honorary

Doctor of Fine Arts Doctor of Fine Arts (D.F.A.) is a doctoral degree in fine arts, may be given as an honorary degree (a degree ''honoris causa'') or an earned professional degree (in the UK). Description Doctoral programmes leading to DFAs are of equivalent level ...

degree from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

Death

Dee died on June 11, 2014, at her home in

, from natural causes at the age of 91. In a statement,

Gil Robertson IV Gil Robertson IV (born August 13, 1964, in Los Angeles, California) is an African-American journalist and author. He is president of the African American Film Critics Association. Early life and education Robertson attended South Park Elementary ...

of the

African-American Film Critics Association The African-American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) is the world's largest group of Black film critics that gives various annual awards for excellence in film and television. It was founded in 2003 in New York City. History The association wa ...

said, "the members of the African American Film Critics Association are deeply saddened at the loss of actress and humanitarian Ruby Dee. Throughout her seven-decade career, Dee embraced different creative platforms with her various interpretations of black womanhood and also used her gifts to champion for Human Rights." "She very peacefully surrendered", said her daughter Nora Day. "We hugged her, we kissed her, we gave her our permission to go. She opened her eyes. She looked at us. She closed her eyes, and she set sail." Following her death, the marquee on the Apollo Theater read: "A TRUE APOLLO LEGEND RUBY DEE 1922–2014". Dee was cremated, and her ashes are held in the same urn as that of Davis, with the inscription "In this thing together". A public memorial celebration honoring Dee was held on September 20, 2014, at the

Riverside Church Riverside Church is an interdenominational church in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, on the block bounded by Riverside Drive, Claremont Avenue, 120th Street and 122nd Street near Columbia University's Mornin ...

in Upper Manhattan. Their shared urn was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.

Work

Filmography

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) still 1

Short subjects: * ''Lorraine Hansberry: The Black Experience in the Creation of Drama'' (1975) * ''The Torture of Mothers'' (1980) * ''Tuesday Morning Ride'' (1995) * ''The Unfinished Journey'' (1999) (narrator) * ''The New Neighbors'' (2009) (narrator)

Television

* ''The Bitter Cup'' (1961) * ''Seven Times Monday'' (1962) * '' The Fugitive'' (1963) * '' The Great Adventure'' (1963) * ''Of Courtship and Marriage'' (1964) * '' Guiding Light'' (cast member in 1967) * '' Peyton Place'' (cast member from 1968 to 1969) * ''Deadlock'' (1969) * ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...

'' (1970) * ''The Sheriff'' (1971) * '' It's Good to Be Alive'' (1974) * '' Police Woman'' Season 1 / Episode 14 "Target Black" (1975) * '' Roots: The Next Generations'' (1979) (miniseries) * '' I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings'' (1979) * ''All God's Children'' (1980) * ''With Ossie and Ruby!'' (1980–1982) * '' Long Day's Journey into Night'' (1982) * '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'' (1984) * '' The Atlanta Child Murders'' (1985) (miniseries) * ''

Windmills of the Gods ''Windmills of the Gods'' is a 1987 thriller novel by American writer Sidney Sheldon. Plot summary Mary Ashley, a professor at Kansas State University, is offered an ambassadorship by Paul Ellison, the US president. She rejects the offer becaus ...

'' (1988) * '' Gore Vidal's Lincoln'' (1988) * ''The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson'' (1990) * ''

'' (1990) * '' Golden Girls'' (1990) * ''Jazztime Tale'' (1991) (voice) * ''

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

'' (1992–1993) * ''

The Ernest Green Story ''The Ernest Green Story'' is a 1993 American made-for-television biographical film which follows the true story of Ernest Green (Morris Chestnut) and eight other African-American high-school students (dubbed the "Little Rock Nine") as they embar ...

'' (1993) * '' The Stand'' (1994) (miniseries) * ''Whitewash'' (1994) (voice) * '' Mr. and Mrs. Loving'' (1996) * '' Captive Heart: The James Mink Story'' (1996) * '' The Wall'' (1998) * '' Little Bill'' (1999 – 2004) (voice) * ''

Passing Glory ''Passing Glory'' is a 1999 basketball-drama film produced for TNT, written by Harold Sylvester, and directed by Steve James. It is based on a true story. This movie stars Andre Braugher, Rip Torn, and Sean Squire, and features a speaking role b ...

'' (1999) * '' Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years'' (1999) * ''

A Storm in Summer ''A Storm in Summer'' is a 2000 American made-for-television drama film directed by Robert Wise and starring Peter Falk, Andrew McCarthy, Nastassja Kinski, and Ruby Dee. It is the last film to be directed by Wise. Rod Serling's original sc ...

'' (2000) * ''Finding Buck McHenry'' (2000) * '' The Feast of All Saints'' (2001) (miniseries) * ''Taking Back Our Town'' (2001) * ''

Their Eyes Were Watching God ''Their Eyes Were Watching God'' is a 1937 novel by American writer Zora Neale Hurston. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance, and Hurston's best known work. The novel explores main character Janie Crawford's "ripening from a v ...

'' (2005) * '' Meet Mary Pleasant'' (2008) * '' America'' (2009)

Stage

* ''On Strivers Row'' (1940) * ''Natural Man'' (1941) * ''Starlight'' (1942) * ''Three's a Family'' (1943) * ''South Pacific'' (1943) * ''Walk Hard'' (1944) * '' Jeb'' (1946) * ''Anna Lucasta'' (1946) (replacement for Hilda Simms) * '' Arsenic and Old Lace'' (1946) * '' John Loves Mary'' (1946) * ''A Long Way From Home'' (1948) * ''The Smile of the World'' (1949) * ''The World of Sholom Aleichem'' (1953) * '' A Raisin in the Sun'' (1959) * ''Purlie Victorious'' (1961) * ''

'' (1965) * ''

'' (1965) * '' The Birds'' (1966) * '' Oresteia'' (1966) * '' Boesman and Lena'' (1970) * '' The Imaginary Invalid'' (1971) * ''The Wedding Band'' (1972) * ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' (1975) * ''

Bus Stop A bus stop is a place where buses stop for passengers to get on and off the bus. The construction of bus stops tends to reflect the level of usage, where stops at busy locations may have shelters, seating, and possibly electronic passenger ...

'' (1979) * ''Twin-Bit Gardens'' (1979) * ''Zora is My Name!'' (1983) * ''Checkmates'' (1988) * '' The Glass Menagerie'' (1989) * ''The Disappearance'' (1993) * ''Flying West'' (1994) * ''Two Hahs-Hahs and a Homeboy'' (1995) * ''My One Good Nerve: A Visit with Ruby Dee'' (1996) * ''A Last Dance for Sybil'' (2002) * ''Saint Lucy's Eyes'' (2003)

Discography

* ''The Original Read-In for Peace in Vietnam'' (

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, 1967) * ''The Poetry of Langston Hughes'' (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, no date, TC 1272) *Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (with George Grizzard. Caedmon Records, 1970, TC 1324) *Tough Poems For Tough People (with Ossie Davis and Henry Braun. Caedmon Records, 1972, TC 1396) *To Make A Poet Black: The best poems of Countee Cullen (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1971, TC 1400 *To Be A Slave (with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1972, TC 2066) *The Lost Zoo, (Caedmon Records, 1978, TC 1539) *Why Mosquitoes Buzz In People's Ears and Other Tales with Ossie Davis. Caedmon Records, 1978, TC 1592) * ''What if I am a Woman?, Vol. 1: Black Women's Speeches'' (Folkways, 1977) * ''What if I am a Woman?, Vol. 2: Black Women's Speeches'' (Folkways, 1977) * ''Every Tone a Testimony'' (

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fo ...

, 2001) *American Short Stories, Vol 2: Various Artists(eav Lexington, no date, LE 7703) *American Short Stories, Vol 3: Various Artists (eav Lexington, no date, LE 7704) *I've got a name, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1968, CSM 662) *At your own risk, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1968, CSM 663) *Conflict, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1969, CSM 816) *Sight lines, Various Artists (Holt's Impact, 1970, SBN 03-071525-3) *Roses & Revolutions, Various Artist (D.S.T. Telecommunications, Inc., Production, 1975) *New Dimensions in Music (with John Cullum. CBS Records, 1976, P 13161)

Awards and nominations

Awards * 1961: National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress – '' A Raisin in the Sun'' * 1971: Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance – '' Boesman and Lena'' * 1971: Obie Award for Best Performance by an Actress – '' Boesman and Lena'' * 1973: Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance – ''Wedding Band'' * 1988: Induction into the

American Theater Hall of Fame The American Theater Hall of Fame in New York City was founded in 1972. Earl Blackwell was the first head of the organization's Executive Committee. In an announcement in 1972, he said that the new ''Theater Hall of Fame'' would be located in the ...

* 1991:

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie – ''

'' * 1991: Women in Film Crystal Award * 1995: National Medal of Arts * 2000: Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award *2003: Women of Vision Award - Women in Film & Video-DC *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st generation), iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakis ...

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

for

Best Spoken Word Album The Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album has been awarded since 1959. The award has had several minor name changes: * In 1959 the award was known as Best Performance, Documentary or Spoken Word * From 1960 to 1961 it was awarded as Best Perform ...

– ''With Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together'' (tied with

) * 2008: African–American Film Critics Best Supporting Actress – '' American Gangster'' * 2008: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role – '' American Gangster'' * 2008: The Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal Award * 2008: She was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the

. Nominations * 1964:

for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role – '' The Doctors and the Nurses: Express Stop from Lenox Avenue'' * 1979:

for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special – '' Roots: The Next Generations'' * 1988:

for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special – '' Lincoln'' *

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicis ...

for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series – '' China Beach: Skylark'' * 1993:

for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series – '' Evening Shade: They Can't Take That Away from Me'' * 1995:

for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – ''

Whitewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...

'' *

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanist ...

for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – '' Little Bill'' * 2002: Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Actress – ''Saint Lucy's Eyes'' *

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program – '' Little Bill'' *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – '' American Gangster'' * 2008: Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture – '' American Gangster'' * 2008: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture – '' American Gangster'' * 2009: Screen Actors Guild Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries – '' America'' * 2010: Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Event – '' America''

Books

* * *

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dee, Ruby African-American actresses American memoirists 1922 births 2014 deaths American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses Caedmon Records artists Drama Desk Award winners Grammy Award winners Kennedy Center honorees Obie Award recipients Spingarn Medal winners United States National Medal of Arts recipients Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners Activists for African-American civil rights African-American journalists African-American women journalists Hunter College alumni Hunter College High School alumni Delta Sigma Theta members Burials at Ferncliff Cemetery People from Harlem Actresses from New Rochelle, New York Activists from New York (state) Actresses from Cleveland Journalists from New York (state) African-American activists 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American women activists Women civil rights activists 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American women African-American history of Westchester County, New York