Actress Ruby Dee passed away quietly in her home in New Rochelle, NY, on June 11, 2014, surrounded by family. Praised for her contributions to stage, screen, radio and civil rights, Ms. Dee was 91.
Ruby was born in Cleveland in 1922, and raised in the Harlem, New York. Her father was a porter and her mother a school teacher. After graduating from Hunter College with a degree in Romance Languages she apprenticed with the American Negro theater, working with Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Hilda Simms. She gained national attention for her role in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story, and in 1965 she became the first black actress to perform in leading roles at the American Shakespearean Festival.
Ruby’s earliest existing radio appearances were on WMCA’s New World A’ Coming, in the story of the ANT and other African American stories which took place in New York City. With her acting career well established by the late 1950’s, she appeared on programs such as X Minus One and the CBS Radio Workshop. In the mid Seventies she made several appearances on the CBS Radio Mystery Theater. Although radio drama was thought to be a dying art form at the time, CBSRMT often showcased respected actors.
Ruby married blues singer Frankie Dee Brown in 1941 and they were divorced in 1945, although she continued to use his name on stage. She married actor Ossie Davis in 1948, and the marriage lasted until his death in 2005. The couple was well known for their work for the cause of civil rights and they were close friends to Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X.
Ruby was nominated for eight Emmy Awards, and won in 1990 for her role in the TV movie Decoration Day. She and Ossie were awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1995 and were recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. In 2007, Ruby became the second oldest Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress for her role in American Gangster.
Ruby Dee’s remains are to be cremated and her ashes will share the same urn as Ossie Davis. The urn will bear the inscription “In this thing together”.
Goodnight, Ruby Dee.