Ruby Dee
Acting
Born: October 27, 1922 · Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Died: June 11, 2014 (aged 91)
Highest Rated
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
American Gangster
2007
Do the Right Thing
1989
A Thousand Words
2012
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000
Just Cause
1995
Cat People
1982
The Stand
1994
Baby Geniuses
1999
The Golden Girls
1985
Jungle Fever
1991
Touched by an Angel
1994
A Simple Wish
1997
Photos (5)
Movies (73)
American Gangster
Mama Lucas
A Thousand Words
Annie McCall
Do the Right Thing
Mother Sister
Cat People
Female
Jungle Fever
Lucinda Purify
Just Cause
Evangeline Ferguson
Cop & ½
Rachel
Baby Geniuses
Margo
A Simple Wish
Hortence
America
Mrs. Harper
The Incident
Joan Robinson
A Raisin in the Sun
Ruth Younger
Buck and the Preacher
Ruth
Uptight
Laurie
Edge of the City
Lucy Tyler
No Way Out
Connie Brooks (uncredited)
The Tall Target
Rachel
Video Girl
Valerie
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Nanny
Feast of All Saints
Elsie Claviere
Love at Large
Corrine Dart
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
The Unfinished Journey
Narrator (voice)
Color Adjustment
Narrator
Taking Back Our Town
Emelda West
No. 2
Nanna Maria
St. Louis Blues
Elizabeth
All About Us
Ms. Ella
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003
Black Girl
Netta's mother
The Jackie Robinson Story
Rae Robinson
The Sheriff
Sue Ann Lucas
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
(archive footage)
The Ernest Green Story
Lydia Wilson
The Wall
Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
Easy to Get
Drugstore Girl
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
Miss Candy
Zora is My Name!
Zora Neale Hurston
Politics of Love
2011
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story
Indigo
Steam
Doris
Decoration Day
Rowena
Whitewash
Grandmother (voice)
After Goodbye
Narrator
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
Jackie's Mother
Take a Giant Step
Christine
Passing Glory
Mommit Porter
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Mrs. Grimes
Love in Syncopation
1946
The Way Back Home
Maude
Betty and Coretta
Narrator
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
Sophia
The Balcony
Thief
Deadlock
Lucinda
A Storm in Summer
Grandmother
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Grandmother Baxter
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six
1980
Go Man Go
Irma Jackson
Gone Are the Days!
Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
Virgin Island
Ruth
Wedding Band
Julia Augustine
The Fight Never Ends
1948
Tuesday Morning Ride
Jennie
It's Good to Be Alive
Ruth Campanella
All God's Children
Irene Whitfield
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Mary Tyrone
A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School
Narrator (voice)
That Man of Mine
Joan
Finding Buck McHenry
Mrs. Henry
Countdown at Kusini
Leah Matanzima
What a Guy
1948
Jazztime Tale
Narrator (voice)
TV Shows (22)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Mary Wilson · 1 eps
The Golden Girls
Mammy Watkins · 1 eps
American Playhouse
Mrs. Grimes · 1 eps
American Playhouse
Zora Neale Hurston · 1 eps
The Fugitive
Laura Smith · 1 eps
Touched by an Angel
LaBelle Springbelt · 1 eps
American Experience
Narrator (voice) · 1 eps
Police Woman
1 eps
The Defenders
Catherine Collins · 1 eps
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Grandma (voice) · 1 eps
China Beach
1 eps
The Stand
Mother Abagail Freemantle · 4 eps
Spenser: For Hire
1 eps
The Great Adventure
Harriet Tubman · 1 eps
Little Bill
52 eps
Roots: The Next Generations
Queen Haley · 3 eps
Lincoln
Elizabeth Keckley · 2 eps
The Atlanta Child Murders
Faye Williams · 2 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Rowena Finch · 1 eps
Armchair Theatre
Vicky Kingsbury · 1 eps
Middle Ages
Estelle Williams · 6 eps
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
Narrator · 2 eps
Self / Appearances (18)
Great Performances
Self · 2 eps
The Oscars
Self · 1 eps
The Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest · 1 eps
Reading Rainbow
Self - Narrator (voice) · 3 eps
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self · 1 eps
Hollywood Black
Self (archive footage) · 4 eps
Iconoclasts
Self · 1 eps
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Self (archive footage)
Sports on the Silver Screen
Self (archive footage)
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Self
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
Self
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
Self
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
Self
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
Self
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
Self
Discovering William Greaves
Self
In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema
Herself
Poitier's Walter Lee
Self (archive footage)
