Ruby Dee

Also known as Ruby Ann Wallace

American actress (1922–2014)

Person · Open Library

Works: 16

Top works

Maggie's American Dream
With Ossie and Ruby
Dessa Rose
Life Lit by Some Large Vision
Having our say

via Open Library + Wikidata

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Country: US
Active from: 1950-05-27

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 756
Total plays: 2,388

via Last.fm · Ruby Dee

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

~18 min read

Article

Ruby Dee (born Ruby Ann Wallace; October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress. She was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Obie Award, and a Drama Desk Award, as well as a nomination for an Academy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1995, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2000, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.

Dee started her career with the American Negro Theatre. She made her Broadway debut in South Pacific (1943). She met her future husband working together on the play Jeb (1946). She originated the Broadway roles of Ruth Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and reprised the role in the 1961 film and Lutiebell Gussie Mae Jenkins in the Ossie Davis play Purlie Victorious (1961) and reprised the role in the 1963 film.