Ruby Dee

Acting

The MovieWise Take

Refining cinematic analysis...

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

Mama Lucas

Do the Right Thing

Mother Sister

A Thousand Words

Annie McCall

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

Mary Wilson

Just Cause

Evangeline Ferguson

Cat People

Female

The Stand

Mother Abagail Freemantle

Baby Geniuses

Margo

Full Filmography

Year	Title	Role
2018	Poitier's Walter Lee MOVIE	Self (archive footage)
2014	Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee MOVIE	Self
2013	Betty and Coretta MOVIE	Narrator
2013	Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal MOVIE	Self
2012	A Thousand Words MOVIE	Annie McCall
2011	Video Girl MOVIE	Valerie
2011	Politics of Love MOVIE	Self
2011	The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll MOVIE	Miss Candy
2009	A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School MOVIE	Narrator (voice)
2009	America MOVIE	Mrs. Harper
2007	Steam MOVIE	Doris
2007	American Gangster MOVIE	Mama Lucas
2007	All About Us MOVIE	Ms. Ella
2007	In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema MOVIE	Herself
2007	Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson MOVIE	Self
2006	Discovering William Greaves MOVIE	Self
2006	The Way Back Home MOVIE	Maude
2006	No. 2 MOVIE	Nanna Maria
2005	Iconoclasts TV	Self
2005	Their Eyes Were Watching God MOVIE	Nanny
2004	Beah: A Black Woman Speaks MOVIE	Self
2004	TV in Black: The First Fifty Years MOVIE	(archive footage)
2003	Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives MOVIE	Self
2002	Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun' MOVIE	Self
2002	Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years TV	Narrator
2001	Taking Back Our Town MOVIE	Emelda West
2001	Feast of All Saints MOVIE	Elsie Claviere
2000	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation TV	Mary Wilson
2000	Finding Buck McHenry MOVIE	Mrs. Henry
2000	A Storm in Summer MOVIE	Grandmother
1999	The Unfinished Journey MOVIE	Narrator (voice)
1999	Little Bill TV	Self
1999	Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years MOVIE	Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
1999	Baby Geniuses MOVIE	Margo
1999	Paul Robeson: Here I Stand MOVIE	Self
1999	Passing Glory MOVIE	Mommit Porter
1998	A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner MOVIE	Narrator
1998	Christianity: The First 1000 Years TV	Herself - Narrator
1998	The Wall MOVIE	Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
1998	Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood MOVIE	Self
1997	A Simple Wish MOVIE	Hortence
1997	Sports on the Silver Screen MOVIE	Self (archive footage)
1996	Captive Heart: The James Mink Story MOVIE	Indigo
1996	Mr. and Mrs. Loving MOVIE	Sophia
1995	Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child TV	Grandma (voice)
1995	Just Cause MOVIE	Evangeline Ferguson
1995	Tuesday Morning Ride MOVIE	Jennie
1994	Touched by an Angel TV	LaBelle Springbelt
1994	Whitewash MOVIE	Grandmother (voice)
1994	The Stand TV	Mother Abagail Freemantle
1993	After Goodbye MOVIE	Narrator
1993	Cop & ½ MOVIE	Rachel
1993	The Ernest Green Story MOVIE	Lydia Wilson
1992	Middle Ages TV	Estelle Williams
1992	Color Adjustment MOVIE	Narrator
1991	Jazztime Tale MOVIE	Narrator (voice)
1991	Jungle Fever MOVIE	Lucinda Purify
1990	Decoration Day MOVIE	Rowena
1990	The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson MOVIE	Jackie's Mother
1990	Love at Large MOVIE	Corrine Dart
1990	Zora is My Name! MOVIE	Zora Neale Hurston
1989	Making 'Do the Right Thing' MOVIE	Self
1989	Do the Right Thing MOVIE	Mother Sister
1988	American Experience TV	Narrator (voice)
1988	China Beach TV	Self
1988	Lincoln TV	Elizabeth Keckley
1985	Spenser: For Hire TV	Self
1985	The Golden Girls TV	Mammy Watkins
1985	The Atlanta Child Murders TV	Faye Williams
1984	Go Tell It on the Mountain MOVIE	Mrs. Grimes
1983	Reading Rainbow TV	Self - Narrator (voice)
1982	Long Day's Journey Into Night MOVIE	Mary Tyrone
1982	Cat People MOVIE	Female
1980	All God's Children MOVIE	Irene Whitfield
1980	The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six MOVIE	Self
1979	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings MOVIE	Grandmother Baxter
1979	Roots: The Next Generations TV	Queen Haley
1978	The Kennedy Center Honors TV	Self
1976	Countdown at Kusini MOVIE	Leah Matanzima
1974	Police Woman TV	Self
1974	Wedding Band MOVIE	Julia Augustine
1974	It's Good to Be Alive MOVIE	Ruth Campanella
1973	Chelsea D.H.O. MOVIE	Dr. Bianca Pearson
1972	Black Girl MOVIE	Netta's mother
1972	Buck and the Preacher MOVIE	Ruth
1972	To Be Young, Gifted and Black MOVIE	Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
1972	On Merit MOVIE	Narrator (voice)
1971	The Sheriff MOVIE	Sue Ann Lucas
1971	Great Performances TV	Self
1970	King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis MOVIE	Self (archive footage)
1969	Deadlock MOVIE	Lucinda
1968	Uptight MOVIE	Laurie
1968	The Dick Cavett Show TV	Self - Guest
1967	The Incident MOVIE	Joan Robinson
1967	Now is the Time MOVIE	Self
1966	Neighbours MOVIE	Vicky Kingsbury
1963	The Great Adventure TV	Harriet Tubman
1963	The Fugitive TV	Laura Smith
1963	Gone Are the Days! MOVIE	Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
1963	The Balcony MOVIE	Thief
1961	The Defenders TV	Catherine Collins
1961	A Raisin in the Sun MOVIE	Ruth Younger
1959	Take a Giant Step MOVIE	Christine
1959	Virgin Island MOVIE	Ruth
1958	St. Louis Blues MOVIE	Elizabeth
1957	Edge of the City MOVIE	Lucy Tyler
1956	Armchair Theatre TV	Vicky Kingsbury
1954	Go Man Go MOVIE	Irma Jackson
1953	The Oscars TV	Self
1951	Hallmark Hall of Fame TV	Rowena Finch
1951	The Tall Target MOVIE	Rachel
1950	No Way Out MOVIE	Connie Brooks (uncredited)
1950	The Jackie Robinson Story MOVIE	Rae Robinson
1948	The Fight Never Ends MOVIE	Self
1948	What a Guy MOVIE	Self
1947	Easy to Get MOVIE	Drugstore Girl
1946	Love in Syncopation MOVIE	Self
1946	That Man of Mine MOVIE	Joan

Quick Facts

Ruby Dee

The MovieWise Take

Biography

Known For

Full Filmography

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