OverviewAI-generated
Ruby Dee (1922–2014) was an American artist whose professional career spanned from 1940 to 2014. She was recognized in the Kennedy Center Honors collection. Her published works include *Maggie's American Dream*, *With Ossie and Ruby*, *Dessa Rose*, *Life Lit by Some Large Vision*, and *Having our say*.
Dee reflected on her identity as a woman from Harlem, stating, "I don't know who I would be if I weren't this child from Harlem, this woman from Harlem." She noted that she never thought of herself as an activist during her early years and did not prioritize integration or acceptance.
Synthesized by Vinony from 17 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Last.fm, Crossref, Wikiquote, MusicBrainz, Open Library, Vinony collections, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Key facts
- Born
- Ruby Ann Wallace , ( 1922-10-27 ) October 27, 1922, Cleveland , Ohio , U.S.
- Died
- June 11, 2014 (2014-06-11) (aged 91), New Rochelle, New York , U.S.
- Resting place
- Ferncliff Cemetery
- Alma mater
- Hunter College (1945)
- Occupation
- Actress
- Years active
- 1940–2013
- Spouses
- Frankie Dee Brown ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1941 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1945 ) Ossie Davis , ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1948 ; died 2005 )
- Children
- 3, including Guy Davis
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Ruby
- Gender
- female
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- Cleveland
- Place of death
- New Rochelle
- Spouse
- Ossie Davis
- Occupation
- actor
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Image
- Ruby Dee - 1972.jpg
Show 11 more facts
- Commons category
- Ruby Dee
- ethnic group
- African Americans
- date of birth
- 1922-10-27
- date of death
- 2014-06-11
- nominated for
- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
- cause of death
- disease
- start of work period
- 1940-00-00
- end of work period
- 2014-00-00
- place of burial
- Ferncliff Cemetery
- manner of death
- natural causes
Sources (10)
via Wikidata · CC0
~18 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Ruby Dee (born Ruby Ann Wallace; October 27, 1922 – June 11, 2014) was an American actress. She was married to Ossie Davis, with whom she frequently performed until his death in 2005. She received numerous accolades, including an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Obie Award, and a Drama Desk Award, as well as a nomination for an Academy Award. She was honored with the National Medal of Arts in 1995, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 2000, and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004.
Dee started her career with the American Negro Theatre. She made her Broadway debut in South Pacific (1943). She met her future husband working together on the play Jeb (1946). She originated the Broadway roles of Ruth Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun (1959) and reprised the role in the 1961 film and Lutiebell Gussie Mae Jenkins in the Ossie Davis play Purlie Victorious (1961) and reprised the role in the 1963 film.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Ruby Dee” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.