Personal Info
Birth date
1922-10-27 (102 Years)
Day of death
2014-06-11
Gender
Female
Known for
Acting
Place of birth
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Also known as
Ruby Ann Wallace
Ruby Dee
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).
Filmography
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
7.64
Overview:
A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.Great Performances
5.3
Overview:
The best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.The Dick Cavett Show
6.7
Overview:
The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.The Golden Girls
7.534
Overview:
Four Southern Florida seniors share a house, their dreams, and a whole lot of cheesecake. Bright, promiscuous, clueless and hilarious, these lovely, mismatched ladies form the perfect circle of friends.The Defenders
6.2
Overview:
The Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son defense attorneys who specialized in legally complex cases, with defendants such as neo-Nazis, conscientious objectors, civil rights demonstrators, a schoolteacher fired for being an atheist, an author accused of pornography, and a physician charged in a mercy killing.Touched by an Angel
7.2
Overview:
Monica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who are at a crossroads in their lives.Police Woman
6.2
Overview:
Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.The Fugitive
7.2
Overview:
Richard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route to death row, Kimble's train derails and crashes, allowing him to escape and begin a cross-country search for the real killer, a "one-armed man". At the same time, Dr. Kimble is hounded by the authorities, most notably dogged by Police Lieutenant Philip Gerard.Spenser: For Hire
6.7
Overview:
Mystery and suspense series based on Robert Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private investigator living in Boston, gets involved in a new murder mystery each episode.Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
6
Overview:
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child is an American anthology animated television series.American Experience
7.4
Overview:
TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform our understanding of the world today.The Kennedy Center Honors
7.4
Overview:
The Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture.Reading Rainbow
8.39
Overview:
Journey to exciting places and build a lasting connection with your favorite books. Each episode centers on a theme from a book, or other children's literature, which is explored through a number of segments or stories.The Stand
6.847
Overview:
After a deadly plague kills most of the world’s population, the remaining survivors split into two groups - one led by a benevolent elder and the other by a maleficent being - to face each other in a final battle between good and evil.The Great Adventure
NYR
Overview:
The Great Adventure is a historical anthology series that appeared on CBS for the 1963-1964 television season. The series, narrated each week by Van Heflin, and featuring theme music by Richard Rodgers, presented a weekly one-hour dramatization of the lives of famous Americans and important historical events in American History.Little Bill
6.6
Overview:
Little Bill is a television show for children that is presently on Nick Jr. The stories are based on Bill Cosby's Little Bill book series, set in Philadelphia and feature Bill Jr. learning a lesson or moral. It was developed through research and in consultation with a panel of educational consultants. The show also aired on CBS as part of Nick Jr. on CBS, from September 16, 2000 - September 7, 2002, then as part of Nick on CBS from August 2, 2003 - September 10, 2005. The show returned with the return of Nick Jr. on CBS on September 17, 2005, and seen through September 9, 2006 when the block was replaced with The KOL Secret Slumber Party on CBS. The series went back into production in fall 2006 and a new season of 6 episodes aired on Noggin throughout April and July 2007, ending in the later month. Reruns are played on Nick Jr., on BET, as of January 7, 2008, and on Centric, as of May 1, 2010. Sonia Manzano, best known for playing Maria Rodriguez on Sesame Street, was a frequent writer for the show.Iconoclasts
6
Overview:
Iconoclasts is a Sundance Channel show. Each episode pairs two "creative visionaries" who discuss their lives, influences, and art, most of whom are longtime friends with the other person featured in the episode. The series premiered on November 17, 2005, and has had six six-episode seasons.China Beach
7.391
Overview:
Dateline: November 1967. Within klicks of Danang, Vietnam, sits a U.S. Army base, bar and hospital on China Beach filled with wounded soldiers and one very lovely but damaged Army Nurse Colleen McMurphy. Many heroes, dead and alive, try to make sense of life and death in between bourbon, bullets and battles.Hallmark Hall of Fame
8.571
Overview:
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The longest-running primetime series in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning during 1951 and continuing into 2013. From 1954 onward, all of its productions have been shown in color, although color television video productions were extremely rare in 1954. Many television movies have been shown on the program since its debut, though the program began with live telecasts of dramas and then changed to videotaped productions before finally changing to filmed ones. The series has received eighty Emmy Awards, twenty-four Christopher Awards, eleven Peabody Awards, nine Golden Globes, and four Humanitas Prizes. Once a common practice in American television, it is the last remaining television program such that the title includes the name of the sponsor. Unlike other long-running TV series still on the air, it differs in that it broadcasts only occasionally and not on a weekly broadcast programming schedule.Middle Ages
6
Overview:
Middle Ages is an American comedy-drama television series that aired from September 3 until October 1, 1992.The Atlanta Child Murders
6
Overview:
The Atlanta Child Murders is a TV miniseries that aired on February 10 and 12, 1985 on CBS. Inspired by true events, the miniseries examines the so-called "Atlanta child murders" of the late 1970s and early 1980s.Christianity: The First 1000 Years
NYR
Overview:
The incredible story of the people who, despite persecution, grew Christianity from an obscure movement to one of the world's largest religions.Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
6
Overview:
A two-series set produced by the A&E network which explores the history of Christianity and its impact on the world from the year 0 to 2000.Roots: The Next Generations
7.469
Overview:
Roots: The Next Generations is a television miniseries, introduced in 1979, continuing, from 1882 to the 1960s, the fictionalized story of the family of Alex Haley and their life in Henning, Lauderdale County, Tennessee, USA. This sequel to the 1977 miniseries is based on the last seven chapters of Haley's novel entitled Roots: The Saga of an American Family plus additional material by Haley. Roots: The Next Generations was produced with a budget of $16.6 million, nearly three times as large as that of the original.American Gangster
7.591
Overview:
Loosely based on the criminal career of Frank Lucas, a gangster from La Grange, North Carolina, who smuggled heroin into the United States on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War, before being detained by a task force led by Newark Detective Richie Roberts.Do the Right Thing
7.8
Overview:
Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.A Thousand Words
6.092
Overview:
Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he’s got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he’s a goner.Cat People
6
Overview:
After years of separation, Irena Gallier and her minister brother, Paul, reunite in New Orleans. When zoologists capture a wild panther, Irena is drawn to the cat – and zoo curator Oliver to her. Soon, Paul will have to reveal the family secret: that when sexually aroused, they revert into predatory jungle cats.Just Cause
6.225
Overview:
A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.Baby Geniuses
4.1
Overview:
BabyCo is the world's leading manufacturer in baby products. However, what the public doesn't know, is that Drs Kinder and Heep, two of its most brilliant scientists, are tirelessly working in complete secrecy to crack the indecipherable code to 'baby talk': a highly sophisticated language, and the key to the secrets of the universe. Before long, problems arise when mischievous Sly, the smartest of the toddlers, escapes confinement, bent on uniting all babies to free those trapped in the laboratory. Now, Kinder and Heep must find Sly before it is too late.Acting
2018Poitier's Walter Lee as Self (archive footage)
2014Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee as Self
2013Betty and Coretta as Narrator
2013Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal as Self
2012A Thousand Words as Annie McCall
2011Video Girl as Valerie
2011Politics of Love as Unknown
2011The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll as Miss Candy
2009A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School as Narrator (voice)
2009America as Mrs. Harper
2007Steam as Doris
2007American Gangster as Mama Lucas
2007All About Us as Ms. Ella
2007In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema as Herself
2007Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson as Self
2006Discovering William Greaves as Self
2006No. 2 as Nanna Maria
2005Iconoclasts (1 Episode) as Self
2005Their Eyes Were Watching God as Nanny
2004Beah: A Black Woman Speaks as Self
2004TV in Black: The First Fifty Years as (archive footage)
2003Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives as Unknown
2002Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun' as Self
2002Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years (2 Episodes) as Narrator
2001Taking Back Our Town as Emelda West
2001Feast of All Saints as Elsie Claviere
2000CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (1 Episode) as Mary Wilson
2000Finding Buck McHenry as Mrs. Henry
2000A Storm in Summer as Grandmother
1999The Unfinished Journey as Narrator (voice)
1999Little Bill (47 Episodes) as Unknown
1999Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years as Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
1999Baby Geniuses as Margo
1999Paul Robeson: Here I Stand as Self
1999Passing Glory as Mommit Porter
1998A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner as Narrator
1998Christianity: The First 1000 Years (4 Episodes) as Herself - Narrator
1998The Wall as Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
1998Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood as Self
1997A Simple Wish as Hortence
1997Sports on the Silver Screen as Self (archive footage)
1996Captive Heart: The James Mink Story as Indigo
1996Mr. and Mrs. Loving as Sophia
1995Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1 Episode) as Grandma (voice)
1995Just Cause as Evangeline Ferguson
1995Tuesday Morning Ride as Jennie
1994Touched by an Angel (1 Episode) as LaBelle Springbelt
1994Whitewash as Grandmother (voice)
1994The Stand as Mother Abagail Freemantle
1994The Stand (4 Episodes) as Mother Abagail Freemantle
1993After Goodbye as Narrator
1993Cop & ½ as Rachel
1993The Ernest Green Story as Lydia Wilson
1992Middle Ages (6 Episodes) as Estelle Williams
1992Color Adjustment as Narrator
1991Jazztime Tale as Narrator (voice)
1991Jungle Fever as Lucinda Purify
1990Decoration Day as Rowena
1990The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson as Jackie's Mother
1990Love at Large as Corrine Dart
1990Zora is My Name! as Zora Neale Hurston
1989Making 'Do the Right Thing' as Self
1989Do the Right Thing as Mother Sister
1988American Experience (1 Episode) as Narrator (voice)
1988China Beach (1 Episode) as Unknown
1988Lincoln (2 Episodes) as Elizabeth Keckley
1985Spenser: For Hire (1 Episode) as Unknown
1985The Golden Girls (1 Episode) as Mammy Watkins
1985The Atlanta Child Murders (2 Episodes) as Faye Williams
1985Go Tell It on the Mountain as Mrs. Grimes
1983Reading Rainbow (3 Episodes) as Herself - Narrator (voice)
1982Long Day's Journey Into Night as Mary Tyrone
1982Cat People as Female
1980All God's Children as Irene Whitfield
1980The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six as Unknown
1979I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as Grandmother Baxter
1979Roots: The Next Generations (7 Episodes) as Queen Victoria Haley
1978The Kennedy Center Honors (1 Episode) as Self
1976Countdown at Kusini as Leah Matanzima
1974Police Woman (1 Episode) as Unknown
1974Wedding Band as Julia Augustine
1974It's Good to Be Alive as Ruth Campanella
1972Black Girl as Netta's mother
1972Buck and the Preacher as Ruth
1972To Be Young, Gifted and Black as Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
1972On Merit as Narrator (voice)
1971The Sheriff as Sue Ann Lucas
1971Great Performances (2 Episodes) as Self
1970King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis as Self (archive footage)
1969Deadlock as Lucinda
1968Uptight as Laurie
1968The Dick Cavett Show (1 Episode) as Self - Guest
1967The Incident as Joan Robinson
1966Neighbours as Vicky Kingsbury
1963The Great Adventure (1 Episode) as Harriet Tubman
1963The Fugitive (1 Episode) as Laura Smith
1963Gone Are the Days! as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
1963The Balcony as Thief
1961The Defenders (1 Episode) as Catherine Collins
1961A Raisin in the Sun as Ruth Younger
1959Take a Giant Step as Christine
1959Virgin Island as Ruth
1958St. Louis Blues as Elizabeth
1957Edge of the City as Lucy Tyler
1954Go Man Go as Irma Jackson
1951Hallmark Hall of Fame (1 Episode) as Rowena Finch
1951The Tall Target as Rachel
1950No Way Out as Connie Brooks (uncredited)
1950The Jackie Robinson Story as Rae Robinson
1948The Fight Never Ends as Unknown
1948What a Guy as Unknown
1947Easy to Get as Drugstore Girl
1946Love in Syncopation as Unknown
1946That Man of Mine as Joan
Sound
1983Papua New Guinea: Anthropology on Trial ... Vocals
Writing
1968Uptight ... Writer