Ruby Dee

ActorSoundWriter Oct 27 (died age 91) Cleveland, Ohio, USA 1946–2018 (72 year career)

6.1 avg rating

Biography

Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) 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 (1950), Do the Right Thing (1989) and American Gangster (2007).

Known For

Film

American Gangster

Mama Lucas

Film

Do the Right Thing

Mother Sister

Film

A Thousand Words

Annie McCall

Film

The Stand

Mother Abagail Freemantle

Film

Just Cause

Evangeline Ferguson

Film

A Raisin in the Sun

Ruth Younger

Film

Cat People

Female

Film

Jungle Fever

Lucinda Purify

Filmography

Acting (118)

Movies (90)

Poitier's Walter Lee

2018

as Self (archive footage)

Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee

as Self

Betty and Coretta

as Narrator

Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal

as Self

A Thousand Words

as Annie McCall

The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll

as Miss Candy

Video Girl

as Valerie

Politics of Love

A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School

as Narrator (voice)

America

as Mrs. Harper

American Gangster

as Mama Lucas

All About Us

as Ms. Ella

Steam

as Doris

Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson

2007

as Self

In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema

as Herself

No. 2

as Nanna Maria

The Way Back Home

as Maude

Discovering William Greaves

2006

as Self

7.0

Their Eyes Were Watching God

2005

as Nanny

5.4

TV in Black: The First Fifty Years

2004

as (archive footage)

4.0

Beah: A Black Woman Speaks

2004

as Self

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

2003

4.8

Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'

2002

as Self

Taking Back Our Town

as Emelda West

Feast of All Saints

as Elsie Claviere

A Storm in Summer

as Grandmother

Finding Buck McHenry

as Mrs. Henry

Baby Geniuses

1999

as Margo

4.1

The Unfinished Journey

as Narrator (voice)

Passing Glory

as Mommit Porter

Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

1999

as Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany

7.5

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

1999

as Self

The Wall

1998

as Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")

5.7

Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood

1998

as Self

A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner

1998

as Narrator

A Simple Wish

1997

as Hortence

5.5

Sports on the Silver Screen

1997

as Self (archive footage)

10.0

Captive Heart: The James Mink Story

as Indigo

Mr. and Mrs. Loving

as Sophia

Tuesday Morning Ride

as Jennie

Just Cause

as Evangeline Ferguson

6.3

Whitewash

1994

as Grandmother (voice)

Cop & ½

as Rachel

After Goodbye

as Narrator

The Ernest Green Story

as Lydia Wilson

Color Adjustment

as Narrator

Jungle Fever

as Lucinda Purify

Jazztime Tale

as Narrator (voice)

Decoration Day

as Rowena

Love at Large

as Corrine Dart

The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson

1990

as Jackie's Mother

7.0

Zora is My Name!

1990

as Zora Neale Hurston

Do the Right Thing

1989

as Mother Sister

7.8

Making 'Do the Right Thing'

1989

as Self

6.7

Go Tell It on the Mountain

as Mrs. Grimes

Cat People

as Female

Long Day's Journey Into Night

as Mary Tyrone

All God's Children

as Irene Whitfield

The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six

1980

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

1979

as Grandmother Baxter

4.0

Countdown at Kusini

1976

as Leah Matanzima

Wedding Band

1974

as Julia Augustine

It's Good to Be Alive

1974

as Ruth Campanella

6.6

Chelsea D.H.O.

1973

as Dr. Bianca Pearson

Buck and the Preacher

1972

as Ruth

6.3

To Be Young, Gifted and Black

1972

as Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters

Black Girl

as Netta's mother

On Merit

as Narrator (voice)

The Sheriff

1971

as Sue Ann Lucas

5.3

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

1970

as Self (archive footage)

7.1

Deadlock

1969

as Lucinda

Uptight

as Laurie

The Incident

as Joan Robinson

Neighbours

as Vicky Kingsbury

The Balcony

1963

as Thief

5.0

Gone Are the Days!

1963

as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins

A Raisin in the Sun

as Ruth Younger

Virgin Island

as Ruth

Take a Giant Step

as Christine

St. Louis Blues

as Elizabeth

Edge of the City

as Lucy Tyler

Go Man Go

as Irma Jackson

The Tall Target

as Rachel

The Jackie Robinson Story

1950

as Rae Robinson

6.3

No Way Out

1950

as Connie Brooks (uncredited)

The Fight Never Ends

What a Guy

Easy to Get

as Drugstore Girl

Love in Syncopation

1946

That Man of Mine

1946

as Joan

Television (28)

Iconoclasts

2005

as Self

6.0

Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years

2002

as Narrator

6.0

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

as Mary Wilson

Little Bill

Christianity: The First 1000 Years

1998

as Herself - Narrator

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

1995

as Grandma (voice)

6.0

Touched by an Angel

1994

as LaBelle Springbelt

7.2

The Stand

1994

as Mother Abagail Freemantle

Middle Ages

as Estelle Williams

American Experience

as Narrator (voice)

China Beach

Lincoln

as Elizabeth Keckley

The Golden Girls

as Mammy Watkins

Spenser: For Hire

The Atlanta Child Murders

1985

as Faye Williams

5.6

Reading Rainbow

1983

as Self - Narrator (voice)

8.4

Roots: The Next Generations

1979

as Queen Victoria Haley

7.5

Roots: The Next Generations

1979

as Queen Haley

7.5

The Kennedy Center Honors

as Self

Police Woman

Great Performances

as Self

The Dick Cavett Show

as Self - Guest

The Fugitive

as Laura Smith

The Great Adventure

as Harriet Tubman

The Defenders

as Catherine Collins

Armchair Theatre

as Vicky Kingsbury

The Oscars

as Self

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

as Rowena Finch

8.6

Crew (2)

Movies (2)

Papua New Guinea: Anthropology on Trial

1983

Vocals

Uptight

1968

Writer

6.6