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Ruby Dee, actress, and activist.

Jen Fad · Tuesday, October 27th 2009 at 5:26PM · 247 views
October 27
Ruby Dee was born on this date in 1924. She is an African American actress and activist. Born Ruby Ann Wallace in Cleveland, Ohio, her father, Marshall Edward Wallace, was a porter and waiter on the Pennsylvania Railroad; her mother, Emma Wallace, was a schoolteacher. She grew up in Harlem, New York, and was a 1945 graduate of Hunter College.

Dee was the first black woman to appear in major roles at the American Shakespeare Festival, in Stratford, CT. She made several appearances on Broadway before getting national recognition for her role in the 1950 film,"The Jackie Robinson Story." Her acting career has crossed all major forms of media over a span of eight decades, including films such as "A Raisin in the Sun" opposite Sidney Poitier (1961), "Uptight" (1968), "Buck and the Preacher" (1972), "Roots" (1978), "Do The Right Thing" (1989), and "The Delany Sisters: The First Hundred Years" (1999). She married actor Ossie Davis and they had one son, Guy Davis, born in 1952.

During the 1960s, Dee appeared in such politically charged films such as "Gone Are the Days" and "The Incident," which paved the way for many young African American filmmakers and actors. She has been nominated for seven Emmy Awards, winning once for her role in 1990s Decoration Day. Dee and her late husband, actor Ossie Davis, were well-known civil rights activists. She is a member of such organizations as CORE, the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). She and her husband were personal friends of both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, with Davis giving Malclom X's eulogy at his 1965 funeral.

Dee is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and a survivor of breast cancer for more than 30 years.
http://www.aaregistry.com/detail.php?id=28...

Reference:
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy Foundation
8949 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90211
Phone: 310-247-3000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwOq4DdfDEM
Ruby Dee, actress, and activist.

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Jen Fad Central Jersey, NJ

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Comments (2)

Jen Fad Wednesday, October 28th 2009 at 9:10AM

She has a powerful legacy to leave the next generation!!

ROBINSON IRMA Thursday, April 10th 2014 at 6:47PM

I was just reading in my local paper in the section that has A Visit With Your Neighbor (a little man on the street with at random some local's picture and some questions answers)and this lady's favorite movie was A Raisin In The Sun.(smile)

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