Ruby Dee Biography
Almost a lifelong New Yorker, Ruby Dee was born Ruby Ann Wallace on October 27, 1924 in Cleveland, Ohio. Her family soon moved to New York, and Dee was raised during the golden age of Harlem. After high school, she attended New York’s Hunter College, graduating in 1945. Expressive and literate, Dee was drawn to the theatre while still a college student. Dee acted in small Shakespearian productions and landed a role in the play, South Pacific in 1943. She also began to study with the American Negro Theatre, where she would meet her future husband, Ossie Davis. They would fall in love during a cross-country tour of Anna Lucasta.
Ruby Dee’s career as an actress has been nothing short of phenomenal. A petite, intelligent actress of nuance and sensitivity, she was talented enough and lucky enough to garner some of the best roles for black women in the 1950s and 1960s. On stage, she was the first black woman to play lead roles at the American Shakespeare Festival, and won an Obie Award for her portrayal of “Lena” in Athol Fugard’s Boseman and Lena; a Drama Desk Award for her role in Alice Childress’ Wedding Band and an Ace Award for her performance in Eugene O’Neil’s Long Days Journey Into Night.
Dee has appeared in over fifty films. In 1950, she played Jackie Robinson’s wife in The Jackie Robinson Story and forty years later, she played his mother in the television production, The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson. Her film credits include: A Raisin In The Sun (1961), Uptight (1968), Buck And The Preacher (1972), Roots (1978), Do The Right Thing (1989) and The Delany Sisters: The First Hundred Years (1999). Dee won an Emmy Award for her performance in the Hallmark Hall of Fame production, Decoration Day. Throughout her film and television career, Dee has been selective and has brought that selectivity and dignity to every role she plays. She is particularly proud of her one-woman show, Zora Is My Name, about pioneering novelist, folklorist, anthropologist, Zora Neale Hurston.
Dee and her husband are authors, storytellers and recording artists as well as actors. Her published works include the humorous, My One Good Nerve and various recordings for young people. In 1998, Dee and Davis co-wrote the autobiographical book, With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together, in which they take turns telling their stories as actors, activists, a married couple and as parents.
Dee’s life has not all been acting, however. She is a survivor of breast cancer for more than thirty years, and has long been active in a variety of movements. She, along with Davis, traveled to Lagos, Nigeria, as goodwill ambassadors, and eulogized Malcolm X in 1965 and later his widow, Betty Shabazz in 1997.
Jointly presented with The Academy of Television Arts and Science’s Silver Circle Award in 1994, Dee and Davis officially became “national treasures” when they received the National Medal of Arts in 1995. In 2000, they were presented the Screen Actors Guild’s Life Achievement Award. They are inductees in the Theater Hall of Fame as well as the NAACP Hall of Fame. In 2008, Dee was awarded the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film, American Gangster. She also received an Academy Award nomination for this role.
Dee was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on March 7, 2001.
From To Examples: 2001/06/21, 247AD, 585BC
-
1924 Oct 27, 1924 – Mahogany Cafe Ruby Dee was born Ruby Ann Wallace in Cleveland, Ohio on October 27, 1924. (www.mahoganycafe.com ). Her father, Marshall Edward Wallace, was a porter and waiter on the Pennsylvania Railroad; her mother, Emma Wallace, was a schoolteacher. (www.movietome.From Ruby Dee : Reference (The Full Wiki) – Related web pages
-
1946 1946 – In 1946, he appeared with a young actress named Ruby Dee in the play “Jeb.” Though the show was not a success, two years later he and Dee married and remained so until his death. Davis and Dee soon became compared with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as a true …Born Raiford Chatman Davis, he took the name “Ossie” from the way his mother pronounced his initials, RC He first appeared on Broadway in the early 1940s and slowly gained recognition as a talent to be reckoned with. In 1946, he appeared with a young actress named Ruby Dee in the play “Jeb.” Though the show was not a success, two years later he and Dee married and remained so until his death. Davis and Dee soon became compared with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy as a …From Mike’s Rant by Michael A. Smith Nolan’s Pop Culture Review #255 – Related web pages
-
1948 Dec 9, 1948 – The two became close and took roles with the touring company of Anna Lucasta. They were married on December 9, 1948. ” Ruby was my colleague,” Davis told Newsday, “and then she became my friend and eventually my wife.”Though it bombed at the box office, Jeb was far from a total loss; it put Davis on the theatrical map, and it was in the cast of Jeb that Davis met Ruby Ann Wallace, whose stage name was Ruby Dee. The two became close and took roles with the touring company of Anna Lucasta. They were married on December 9, 1948. ” Ruby was my colleague,” Davis told Newsday, “and then she became my friend and eventually my wife.”From Ossie Davis Biography – Grew Up Poor in the South, Began Acting as … – Related web pages
biography.jrank.org/pages/2512/Davis-Ossie.html
-
1959 Mar 11, 1959 – The original theatrical production debuted on March 11, 1959 and starred Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee. Its semi-autobiographical storyline was loosely based on real-life events which unfolded in Hansberry’s own family back in the Thirties. At the time her …The original theatrical production debuted on March 11, 1959 and starred Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee. Its semi-autobiographical storyline was loosely based on real-life events which unfolded in Hansberry’s own family back in the Thirties. At the time her parents had been met with pure hatred after purchasing a home in a lily-white, Chicago enclave. In her memoir, “To Be Young, Gifted and Black,” she recounted how her dad, determined to integrate, ended up spending a small …From February 2008 | blackfilm.com | reviews | film | A RAISIN IN THE SUN – Related web pages
-
1989 Jan 15, 1989 – Jackie Robinson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Percy Sutton did. But the press stayed away. The work only really came into its own on January 15, 1989, when, in a joint celebration of Dr. King’s 60th birthday and Siegmeister’s 80th (the same day), the …Jackie Robinson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Percy Sutton did. But the press stayed away. The work only really came into its own on January 15, 1989, when, in a joint celebration of Dr. King’s 60th birthday and Siegmeister’s 80th (the same day), the Metropolitan Philharmonic Chorus performed the Manhattan premiere with William Warfield at the Harlem School of the Arts, a performance that was broadcast repeatedly over WQXR and WBAI over the next several years.From NewMusicBox – Related web pages
-
1990 Feb 14, 1990 – 4 On February 14, 1990, PBS in its prestigious American Playhouse series broadcast “Zora Is My Name” starring Ruby Dee in a dramatization of selections from Mules and Men and Dust Tracks. It could be said, then, that Hurston has ” arrived” as a …4 On February 14, 1990, PBS in its prestigious American Playhouse series broadcast “Zora Is My Name” starring Ruby Dee in a dramatization of selections from Mules and Men and Dust Tracks. It could be said, then, that Hurston has ” arrived” as a contemporary, national, cultural presence; we need only a Hollywood movie of any one of her works to inscribe this presence into the realm of the transnational popular memory of the media conglomerates.From History And Memory In African American Culture – Research and Read … – Related web pages
-
1998 1998 – Davis is the author of three children’s books: Escape to Freedom (honored by the American Library Association and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award); Langston; and Just Like Martin. In 1998, he and Ruby Dee marked their 50th wedding anniversary with …Davis is the author of three children’s books: Escape to Freedom (honored by the American Library Association and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award); Langston; and Just Like Martin. In 1998, he and Ruby Dee marked their 50th wedding anniversary with the publication of their joint autobiography, With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together. His most recent play, A Last Dance for Sybil, received. -
1999 Apr 1999 – In April 1999, the Delany sisters story was made into a movie which starred Ruby Dee and Diahann Caroll. (bio by: Curtis Jackson …From Sarah Louise Delany (1889 – 1999) – Find A Grave Memorial – Related web pages
-
2005 Feb 4, 2005 – Ossie Davis, 87, passed away from natural causes in a Miami hotel on the morning of Feb. 4, 2005. Mr. Davis had a history of heart problems and had recently recovered from pneumonia. Ruby Dee, his wife and partner of more than 58 years, had voiced concern …Ossie Davis, 87, passed away from natural causes in a Miami hotel on the morning of Feb. 4, 2005. Mr. Davis had a history of heart problems and had recently recovered from pneumonia. Ruby Dee, his wife and partner of more than 58 years, had voiced concern about him taking on another project so close to his battle with pneumonia. However, true to his profession and in keeping with his work ethic, the ever dependable Mr. Davis reported for work.From In memoriam: Ossie Davis (1917-2005).(Obituary) – Related web pages
goliath.ecnext.com/premium/0199/0199-3762112.html
-
2008 Jun 2, 2008 – Singer Janet Jackson presents the Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis Arts and Humanitarian Award to Actor Denzel Washington and his wife Pauletta Washington during the 4th Annual Apollo Hall Of Fame Gala at the Apollo Theatre on June 2, 2008 in New York City.From Denzel Washington Pictures, Denzel Washington Photo Gallery and … – Related web pages
WZAK Hot Links:
NEW MUSIC: Ron Isley ‘No More’ Click Here
Kym Sellers’ Cleveland Classic Music Video Playlist Click Here
Karen Vaughn’s Working Divas- For the working woman and fulltime diva
Love and Relationship Advice for him and her. Click Here
PHOTOS: Whats Hot and Whats NOT… see what they are wearing… Sexy or Trashy! Click Here
Share your thoughts with us here at wzakcleveland.com the online home of The Tom Joyner Morning Show. Link up with Cleveland’s R&B leader by joining our network of friends on Facebook, and check us out on Twitter. |
