Activist and actor, Ruby Dee passed away in her home surrounded by family and friends in New Rochelle, N.Y. She was 91.
Born Ruby Wallace, Ruby Dee was born in Cleveland and raised in Harlem during a time when African-Americans were not well recognized on stage or the screen. Her first role came in 1949 to a musical titled “That Man of Mine.” The following year she starred in “The Jackie Robinson Story” as Rachel Robinson.
In 1965 she became the first African-American woman to perform a leading role at the American Shakespeare Festival.
Over the years Dee has earned honors such as an Oscar award for her role in “A Raisin in the Sun,” an Emmy award, Grammy award, the National Civil Rights Museum’s Lifetime Achievement Freedom award and an Oscar nomination for her role in 2008 “American Gangster” with Denzel Washington.
She was a member of the Congress of Racial Equality and the NAACP.
She worked as an activist alongside her husband, Ossie Davis until his death in 2005. The couple worked side-by-side in 11 productions including Spike Lee’s “Jungle Fever.”
Dee and Davis became close friends with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.
The couple’s ashes now rest together in an urn that says “In This Thing Together.”
The sign above the Apollo Theater in Harlem reads “A TRUE APOLLO LEGEND RUBY DEE 1922-2014.”
The lights on Broadway dimmed for 60 seconds in her honor.
