Most people knew this diminutive powerhouse from her stage performances and her films (both screen and television). She was the first Black woman to play lead roles at the American Shakespeare Festival; and she won numerous awards and honors for her work over six decades.
Her films include:
The Jackie Robinson Story (1950);
Raisin in the Sun from the Lorraine Hansberry play, with Sidney Poitier (1961);
Wedding Band from the play by Alice Childress, with J. D. Cannon and Eileen Heckart (1974);
Cat People with Malcolm McDowell (1982);
Do The Right Thing with Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee directing (1989);
Jungle Fever with Samuel L. Jackson, Spike Lee directing (1991);
Mr. and Mrs. Loving with Timothy Hutton and Isaiah Washington - story of interracial couple behind the landmark Supreme Court case on anti-miscegenation laws (1996);
Their Eyes Were Watching God from the Zora Neale Hurston novel, with Halle Berry (2005);
American Gangster with Denzel Washington (2007).
Bosley Crowther of the New York Times wrote of her performance in Raisin in the Sun: "Miss Dee is quietly magnificent."
Clive Barnes of the New York Times said of her performance in Athol Fugard's 1970 play Boesman and Lena: "Ruby Dee as Lena is giving the finest performance I have ever seen. Never for a moment do you think she is acting."
Ruby Dee was married to Ossie Davis, her second husband, for 56 years until his death in 2005. Together and as individuals they constituted a formidable presence on stage and screen. She and her husband also were known for their tireless efforts on behalf of civil rights. They frequently worked with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, and were supportive of many other civil rights activists over the years.
In a 2005 interview with Ruby Dee, Essence Magazine editor Susan Taylor summarized her life:
Ruby Dee's life has been a treasure trove of experience: as a gifted, award-winning actress, writer, producer, activist; as mother of three great children and grandmother of seven; as a partner in a 56-year marriage to the phenomenal Ossie Davis, who died last February and was crazy in love with her.
What Ruby Dee has said over the years:
"We need to spend our time helping to make it easier for the people who are on the front lines of change, in our country and in this world."
"Why can't we image makers become peacemakers, too. Why cannot we, in such a time as this, use all the magic of our vaunted powers to lift the pistol from the schoolboy's backpack?"
"The kind of beauty I want most is the hard-to-get kind that comes from within -- strength, courage, dignity."
We will miss you always, Beautiful Mother and Pioneer.
