Ruby Dee passed away at the age of 91 in New Rochelle, New York. Ruby Dee’s first big break was in 1946, she starred in “Anna Lucasta,” a Broadway and national touring production. The play was both a boon for her professional and romantic life as she met her husband, Ossie Davis, as he worked the stage of another play.
It wasn’t until the 1950′s “The Jackie Robinson Story” that Hollywood began to take notice of the glamorous Harlem native. Dee played the pioneering baseball star’s wife in the film, opposite of Robinson who played himself.
In 1959, Dee starred in a Broadway production of Lorraine Hansberry‘s “A Raisin In the Sun” opposite fellow American Negro Theater alumSidney Poitier. The play was turned into a film in 1961, which placed Dee on the nation’s entertainment radar.
The 1960s would be both a time of a notable creative uptick for Dee and Davis and also the couple becoming activists and important figures of the Civil Rights Movement.
Splitting time between the stage and television, Dee followed in her husband’s footsteps and began writing scripts for films. One of her productions, 1967′s “Uptight,” starred former “Rawhide” actor Raymond St. Jacques. The 1972 Black Western “Buck and the Preacher” was another standout role for Dee, and it featured former troupe mate Harry Belafonte.
She starred in plays such as “Hamlet” and “The Taming of the Shrew” and many others. In the 1970s Dee was featured in TV- films “Roots” and the role of “Queen Haley.”
In 1991, she received an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for her role in “Decoration Day.” In 2001, she received the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2007, Dee would win a Grammy for Best Spoken World Album along with her husband for the recording “With Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together.”
We Wish You A Peaceful Rest!
By: Alexis Allen
