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).
Do the Right Thing
As Mother Sister
Jungle Fever
As Lucinda Purify
American Gangster
As Mama Lucas
America
As Mrs. Harper
Cat People
As Female
Love at Large
As Corrine Dart
Jazztime Tale
As Narrator (voice)
Just Cause
As Evangeline Ferguson
Cop and ½
As Rachel
Buck and the Preacher
As Ruth
No. 2
As Nanna Maria
The Tall Target
As Rachel
Edge of the City
As Lucy Tyler
A Raisin in the Sun
As Ruth Younger
The Jackie Robinson Story
As Rae Robinson
The Incident
As Joan Robinson
A Simple Wish
As Hortence
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
Their Eyes Were Watching God
As Nanny
Politics of Love
Feast of All Saints
As Elsie Claviere
Black Girl
As Netta's mother
Video Girl
As Valerie
Decoration Day
As Rowena
Uptight
As Laurie
Finding Buck McHenry
As Mrs. Henry
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
As Sophia
It's Good to Be Alive
As Ruth Campanella
A Storm in Summer
As Grandmother
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
As Self
Betty and Coretta
As Narrator
Steam
As Doris
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
As Grandmother Baxter
Virgin Island
As Ruth
Take a Giant Step
As Christine
Tuesday Morning Ride
As Jennie
Gone Are the Days!
As Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
After Goodbye
As Narrator
Sports on the Silver Screen
As Self (archive footage)
That Man of Mine
As Joan
Deadlock
As Lucinda
Long Day's Journey Into Night
As Mary Tyrone
A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School
As Narrator (voice)
Passing Glory
As Mommit Porter
The Wall
As Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
Countdown at Kusini
As Leah Matanzima
Whitewash
As Grandmother (voice)
Taking Back Our Town
As Emelda West
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
As Jackie's Mother
A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner
As Narrator
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
As Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
Neighbours
As Vicky Kingsbury
No Way Out
As Connie Brooks (uncredited)
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story
As Indigo
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
As Self (archive footage)
Love in Syncopation
The Fight Never Ends
What a Guy
Wedding Band
As Julia Augustine
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
As Miss Candy
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
As Self
In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema
As Herself
All God's Children
As Irene Whitfield
Go Tell It on the Mountain
As Mrs. Grimes
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
As Self
The Ernest Green Story
As Lydia Wilson
A Thousand Words
As Annie McCall
Zora is My Name!
As Zora Neale Hurston
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
As (archive footage)
St. Louis Blues
As Elizabeth
The Balcony
As Thief
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
As Self
Color Adjustment
As Narrator
Go Man Go
As Irma Jackson
Discovering William Greaves
As Self
Baby Geniuses
As Margo
Poitier's Walter Lee
As Self (archive footage)
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
As Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
The Sheriff
As Sue Ann Lucas
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
As Self
On Merit
As Narrator (voice)
The Unfinished Journey
As Narrator (voice)
Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson
As Self
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
As Self
The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six
All About Us
As Ms. Ella
Easy to Get
As Drugstore Girl
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
As Self
Spenser: For Hire
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
As Mary Wilson
The Great Adventure
As Harriet Tubman
The Golden Girls
As Mammy Watkins
China Beach
Little Bill
Hallmark Hall of Fame
As Rowena Finch
The Stand
As Mother Abagail
Police Woman
The Fugitive
As Laura Smith
Roots: The Next Generations
As Queen Victoria Haley
Iconoclasts
As Self
Middle Ages
As Estelle Williams
The Defenders
As Catherine Collins
The Kennedy Center Honors
As Self
Reading Rainbow
As Herself - Narrator (voice)
American Experience
As Narrator (voice)
Christianity: The First 1000 Years
As Herself - Narrator
The Atlanta Child Murders
As Faye Williams
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
As Grandma (voice)
The Dick Cavett Show
As Self - Guest
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
As Narrator
Touched by an Angel
As LaBelle Springbelt
Great Performances
As Self