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