Facts about Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee Biography
Ruby Dee was a star of stage and screen for decades, beginning with her 1946 Broadway debut in Anna Lucasta.
Ruby Dee appeared hundreds of times in plays, movies and television shows, frequently co-starring with her husband, actor Ossie Davis. The pair, married from 1948 until Davis’s death in 2005, were also famous for their off-screen activism and work on behalf of African-Americans in the performing arts.
Ruby Dee was nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role in the film American Gangster (2007, starring Denzel Washington), and she was nominated for six Emmys during her career, winning once, for 1990’s Decoration Day.
Her other films include The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), A Raisin in the Sun (1961, with Sidney Poitier), Do the Right Thing (1988, directed by Spike Lee) and Baby Geniuses (1999).
Extra credit
In 2004, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were honored by the Kennedy Center for their contributions to the performing arts in America… Ruby Dee published a collection of writings, My One Good Nerve, in 1998… Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis published their joint autobiography, With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together, in 2000.