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