Ruby Dee
Born in Cleveland, Ohio, USA — Oct 27 1922• Died Jun 11 2014
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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).
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Ruby Dee's Credits
Browse acting and crew credits across movies and TV — filter and sort to find specific roles.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Mary Wilson
Great Performances
Self
American Experience
Narrator (voice)
The Fugitive
Laura Smith
Touched by an Angel
LaBelle Springbelt
The Golden Girls
Mammy Watkins
Police Woman
The Defenders
Catherine Collins
The Oscars
Self
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Grandma (voice)
China Beach
The Stand
Mother Abagail Freemantle
Spenser: For Hire
Reading Rainbow
Self - Narrator (voice)
The Great Adventure
Harriet Tubman
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self
Roots: The Next Generations
Queen Haley
Iconoclasts
Self
American Gangster
Mama Lucas
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Rowena Finch
Do the Right Thing
Mother Sister
Little Bill
The Atlanta Child Murders
Faye Williams
Cat People
Female
Just Cause
Evangeline Ferguson
The Jackie Robinson Story
Rae Robinson
A Thousand Words
Annie McCall
Jungle Fever
Lucinda Purify
Armchair Theatre
Vicky Kingsbury
Cop & ½
Rachel
Baby Geniuses
Margo
Sports on the Silver Screen
Self (archive footage)
Video Girl
Valerie
A Simple Wish
Hortence
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Self (archive footage)
No. 2
Nanna Maria
Feast of All Saints
Elsie Claviere
Middle Ages
Estelle Williams
A Raisin in the Sun
Ruth Younger
The Wall
Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
Uptight
Laurie
A Storm in Summer
Grandmother
Edge of the City
Lucy Tyler
Love at Large
Corrine Dart
The Unfinished Journey
Narrator (voice)
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story
Indigo
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
(archive footage)
Buck and the Preacher
Ruth
All About Us
Ms. Ella
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
Miss Candy
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Nanny
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Self
No Way Out
Connie Brooks (uncredited)
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
Sophia
Deadlock
Lucinda
Decoration Day
Rowena
Taking Back Our Town
Emelda West
The Tall Target
Rachel
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
The Sheriff
Sue Ann Lucas
Black Girl
Netta's mother
Christianity: The First 1000 Years
Herself - Narrator
Neighbours
Vicky Kingsbury
Color Adjustment
Narrator
Passing Glory
Mommit Porter
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
Self
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
The Incident
Joan Robinson
All God's Children
Irene Whitfield
America
Mrs. Harper
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Mrs. Grimes
Go Man Go
Irma Jackson
Betty and Coretta
Narrator
The Balcony
Thief
Steam
Doris
Gone Are the Days!
Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
Self
Take a Giant Step
Christine
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
Self
Zora is My Name!
Zora Neale Hurston
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
Jackie's Mother
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
Self
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
Narrator
Tuesday Morning Ride
Jennie
Politics of Love
St. Louis Blues
Elizabeth
Whitewash
Grandmother (voice)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Grandmother Baxter
Countdown at Kusini
Leah Matanzima
It's Good to Be Alive
Ruth Campanella
Finding Buck McHenry
Mrs. Henry
Virgin Island
Ruth
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
Self
The Ernest Green Story
Lydia Wilson
Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson
Self
Wedding Band
Julia Augustine
The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six
The Way Back Home
Maude
After Goodbye
Narrator
The Fight Never Ends
In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema
Herself
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Mary Tyrone
That Man of Mine
Joan
Chelsea D.H.O.
Dr. Bianca Pearson
Jazztime Tale
Narrator (voice)
On Merit
Narrator (voice)
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
Self
Papua New Guinea: Anthropology on Trial
Sound
Easy to Get
Drugstore Girl
Poitier's Walter Lee
Self (archive footage)
Discovering William Greaves
Self
A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner
Narrator
A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School
Narrator (voice)
Love in Syncopation
What a Guy
Now is the Time
Self