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 (74)
American Gangster
Mama Lucas
A Thousand Words
Annie McCall
Do the Right Thing
Mother Sister
Cat People
Female
A Simple Wish
Hortence
Jungle Fever
Lucinda Purify
Cop & ½
Rachel
Baby Geniuses
Margo
The Tall Target
Rachel
The Incident
Joan Robinson
Buck and the Preacher
Ruth
Just Cause
Evangeline Ferguson
No Way Out
Connie Brooks (uncredited)
A Raisin in the Sun
Ruth Younger
Edge of the City
Lucy Tyler
Uptight
Laurie
Feast of All Saints
Elsie Claviere
Take a Giant Step
Christine
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Mrs. Grimes
The Jackie Robinson Story
Rae Robinson
Video Girl
Valerie
The Stand
1994
Love at Large
Corrine Dart
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story
Indigo
Gone Are the Days!
Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Nanny
The Ernest Green Story
Lydia Wilson
All About Us
Ms. Ella
A Storm in Summer
Grandmother
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003
Whitewash
Grandmother (voice)
Color Adjustment
Narrator
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
America
Mrs. Harper
The Sheriff
Sue Ann Lucas
Taking Back Our Town
Emelda West
It's Good to Be Alive
Ruth Campanella
No. 2
Nanna Maria
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
Jackie's Mother
All God's Children
Irene Whitfield
The Way Back Home
Maude
Decoration Day
Rowena
Black Girl
Netta's mother
Zora is My Name!
Zora Neale Hurston
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
Miss Candy
Tuesday Morning Ride
Jennie
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
(archive footage)
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
Sophia
Easy to Get
Drugstore Girl
St. Louis Blues
Elizabeth
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Grandmother Baxter
Passing Glory
Mommit Porter
Deadlock
Lucinda
Steam
Doris
The Wall
Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
That Man of Mine
Joan
The Balcony
Thief
The Fight Never Ends
1948
Finding Buck McHenry
Mrs. Henry
Virgin Island
Ruth
Go Man Go
Irma Jackson
Wedding Band
Julia Augustine
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six
1980
The Unfinished Journey
Narrator (voice)
Betty and Coretta
Narrator
After Goodbye
Narrator
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Mary Tyrone
Countdown at Kusini
Leah Matanzima
What a Guy
1948
A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School
Narrator (voice)
Love in Syncopation
1946
Politics of Love
2011
Jazztime Tale
Narrator (voice)
TV Shows (22)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Mary Wilson · 1 eps
The Fugitive
Laura Smith · 1 eps
American Experience
Narrator (voice) · 1 eps
Touched by an Angel
LaBelle Springbelt · 1 eps
The Golden Girls
Mammy Watkins · 1 eps
American Playhouse
Mrs. Grimes · 1 eps
American Playhouse
Zora Neale Hurston · 1 eps
Police Woman
1 eps
The Defenders
Catherine Collins · 1 eps
China Beach
1 eps
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Grandma (voice) · 1 eps
Spenser: For Hire
1 eps
The Stand
Mother Abagail Freemantle · 4 eps
The Great Adventure
Harriet Tubman · 1 eps
Little Bill
52 eps
Roots: The Next Generations
Queen Haley · 3 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Rowena Finch · 1 eps
The Atlanta Child Murders
Faye Williams · 2 eps
Armchair Theatre
Vicky Kingsbury · 1 eps
Lincoln
Elizabeth Keckley · 2 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 Dick Cavett Show
Self - Guest · 1 eps
The Oscars
Self · 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
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
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Self (archive footage)
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
Poitier's Walter Lee
Self (archive footage)
In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema
Herself
Discovering William Greaves
Self
