

Her husband Ossie Davis (1917-2005) also appeared in the episode. She was nominated for her television guest appearance in the China Beach episode, "Skylark".
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ĭee was nominated for eight Emmy Awards, winning once for her role in the 1990 TV film Decoration Day. She played Queen Haley in Roots: The Next Generations, a 1979 miniseries. She appeared in one episode of The Golden Girls' sixth season. The character of Cora Sanders was obviously, but loosely, influenced by the real-life Angela Y. She appeared as Cora Sanders, a Marxist college professor, in the Season 1/Episode 14 of Police Woman, entitled "Target Black" which aired on Friday night, January 3, 1975. In 1969, Dee appeared in 20 episodes of Peyton Place. From left: Dee, (Ruth Younger) Claudia McNeil, (Lena Younger) Glynn Turman, (Travis Younger) Sidney Poitier, (Walter Younger) and John Fiedler, (Karl Lindner).ĭuring the 1960s, Dee appeared in Gone Are the Days and The Incident. Photo of a scene from the play A Raisin in the Sun.

Her career in acting crossed all major forms of media over a span of eight decades, including the films A Raisin in the Sun, in which she recreated her stage role as a suffering housewife in the projects, and Edge of the City. In 1965, Dee performed in lead roles at the American Shakespeare Festival as Kate in The Taming of the Shrew and Cordelia in King Lear, becoming the first black actress to portray a lead role in the festival. She received national recognition for her role in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story. Her first onscreen role was in That Man of Mine in 1946. She made several appearances on Broadway. Careerĭee joined the American Negro Theater as an apprentice, working with Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, and Hilda Simms. She attended Hunter College High School and went on to graduate from Hunter College with a degree in Romance languages in 1945. After her mother left the family, Dee's father remarried, to Emma Amelia Benson, a schoolteacher. ĭee was born Ruby Ann Wallace on October 27, 1922, in Cleveland, Ohio, the daughter of Gladys ( née Hightower) and Marshall Edward Nathaniel Wallace, a cook, waiter and porter. She was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed, until his death in 2005. She was also a National Medal of Arts, Kennedy Center Honors and Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award recipient.

She was a Grammy, Emmy, Obie and Drama Desk winner. Her other notable film roles include The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), and Do the Right Thing (1989).įor her performance as Mahalee Lucas in American Gangster (2007), she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Female Actor in a Supporting Role. She is perhaps best known for originating the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun (1961). Ruby Dee (OctoJune 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist and civil rights activist. J( ) (aged 91) New Rochelle, New York, U.S.Īctress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, activistįrankie Dee Brown (approx 1941-1945 divorced) Ossie Davis (1948-2005 his death) Ruby Ann Wallace ( )OctoCleveland, Ohio, U.S.
