Notable people · Entertainment · Film · Theater · Civil Rights · African American History
Ruby Dee
Cleveland-born, Harlem-raised actress of A Raisin in the Sun and Do the Right Thing, civil rights activist, and partner of Ossie Davis for 57 years.
Born October 27, 1922, Cleveland
Died June 11, 2014, her home in New Rochelle, New York
At a glance
- Born
- October 27, 1922, Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) source
- Died
- June 11, 2014, her home in New Rochelle, New York source
- Buried
- Ferncliff Cemetery, Hartsdale, New York (ashes in the same urn as Ossie Davis; Hillcrest Garden B) source
- Also known as
- Ruby Dee, Ruby Dee Davis
- Known as
- Entertainment, Film, Theater, Civil Rights, African American History
Life story
Ruby Dee was born Ruby Ann Wallace in Cleveland on 27 October 1922, the daughter of Gladys Hightower and Marshall Wallace, a cook, waiter and porter. She was raised in Harlem, where her father remarried a schoolteacher, Emma Benson, and she went on to Hunter College High School and Hunter College, graduating in 1945. She trained with the American Negro Theatre, met Ossie Davis in the 1946 play Jeb and married him in 1948, and created the role of Ruth Younger in A Raisin in the Sun on Broadway in 1959. With Davis she was active in CORE, the NAACP and the SCLC and was a master of ceremonies at the 1963 March on Washington. Her honours include the National Medal of Arts (1995), the Kennedy Center Honors (2004), a Grammy, and an Oscar nomination at 85 for American Gangster. Ohio's claim rests on her Cleveland birth; the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame inducted her in 1986.
Ohio ties
- Cleveland (1922)
birthplace; she was raised in Harlem, New York Cuyahoga County · source - Ohio Women's Hall of Fame (1986)
inducted source
Timeline
- 1922 Born Ruby Ann Wallace in Cleveland on 27 October. source
- 1943 Made her Broadway debut in South Pacific (not the later Rodgers and Hammerstein musical). source
- 1945 Graduated from Hunter College with a degree in Romance languages. source
- 1940s Joined Harlem's American Negro Theatre, whose production of Anna Lucasta launched her Broadway career. source
- 1946 Met Ossie Davis in the Broadway play Jeb and made her film debut in That Man of Mine. source
- 1948 Married Ossie Davis. source
- 1950 Played Rachel Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story. source
- 1959 Originated Ruth Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, which opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on 11 March, the first play by a Black woman produced on Broadway. source
- 1963 Served as a master of ceremonies at the March on Washington. source
- 1986 Inducted into the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame. source
- 1989 Appeared in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing. source
- 1991 Won an Emmy for Decoration Day. source
- 1995 Received the National Medal of Arts jointly with Ossie Davis. source
- 2004 Received the Kennedy Center Honors with Ossie Davis. source
- 2005 Ossie Davis died on 4 February in Miami Beach. source
- 2007 Won the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album for With Ossie and Ruby, tied with Jimmy Carter. source
- 2008 Was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for American Gangster at the 80th Academy Awards on 24 February; Tilda Swinton won. source
- 2014 Died of natural causes at her home in New Rochelle, New York, on 11 June, aged 91. source
- 2017 Her ashes, in the urn she shared with Ossie Davis, were inurned at Ferncliff Cemetery on 3 June. source
Stories
From Cleveland to Harlem
Ruby Ann Wallace was born in Cleveland to Gladys Hightower and Marshall Edward Nathaniel Wallace, who worked as a cook, waiter and porter. Her mother left the family, and her father married Emma Amelia Benson, a schoolteacher. Ruby grew up in Harlem, went to Public Schools 119 and 136 and Hunter College High School, and graduated from Hunter College in 1945 with a degree in Romance languages. She joined the American Negro Theatre as an apprentice, alongside Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte and Hilda Simms.
One urn for two
Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis met on the set of Robert Ardrey's play Jeb in 1946 and married in 1948. They worked side by side on stage and screen and in the civil rights movement, receiving the National Medal of Arts together at the White House in 1995 and the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004. Davis died in a Miami Beach hotel room in February 2005; he was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery and his urn was given to Dee. When she died nine years later, her ashes were placed in the same urn.
Ohio places
Where Ruby Dee was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.
- Born: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
- Connected: Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Cleveland · Cuyahoga County
Myths and corrections
Things often said about Ruby Dee, and what the record shows.
Often said Ruby Dee was born in 1924.
The record BlackPast and some other references give 1924, but Find a Grave and Wikipedia give 27 October 1922, and she was reported as 91 when she died in June 2014, which fits 1922. source
Often said Ruby Dee was an Oscar winner (as a widely shared 2014 tribute photo on Wikimedia Commons describes her).
The record She was nominated once, for Best Supporting Actress for American Gangster at the 24 February 2008 ceremony, and lost to Tilda Swinton. source
Pictures
Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.
Photo of a scene from the play A Raisin in the Sun. From left-Louis Gossett (George Murchison), Ruby Dee (Ruth...
Public domain
Photo of a scene from the play A Raisin in the Sun. From left-Ruby Dee (Ruth Younger), Claudia McNeil (Lena Yo...
Public domain
Screenshot of trailer for the 1957 film Edge of the City
Public domain
Jet magazine
Public domain
Joel Fluellen in The Jackie Robinson Story - publicity still (cropped)
Public domain
Publicity photo for the American documentary film King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970). Left ...
Public domain
Publicity photo for the American documentary film King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis (1970). Left ...
Public domain
Title: Portrait of Ruby Dee Abstract: 1 photographic print : gelatin silver.
Public domain
Publicity photo of Ruby Dee
Public domain
Congressman David Scott raises his arm with actress Ruby Dee following Dee's opening remarks
Public domain
Actress Ruby Dee speaks to attendees at a special luncheon hosted by Georgia Cares and Rep. David Scott.
Public domain
Actress Ruby Dee speaks to attendees at a special luncheon hosted by Georgia Cares and Rep. David Scott.
Public domain
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Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Dee
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/131277377
- https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2008
- https://www.arts.gov/honors/medals/ossie-davis-and-ruby-dee
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ossie_Davis
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Women%27s_Hall_of_Fame
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Raisin_in_the_Sun
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Negro_Theatre
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Ruby_Dee_LCCN2004662789.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Ruby_Dee_LCCN2004662790.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:That_Man_of_Mine_lobby_card.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Jackie_Robinson_Story_(1950)_still_1.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Raisin_in_the_Sun_1959.JPG
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_A_Filmed_Record_publicity_photo_(Landau,_Dee,_Newman,_Lumet).jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruby_Dee_-_1972.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sidney_Poitier,_Ossie_Davis,_Ruby_Dee,_New_York_Amsterdam_News_1977_12_10_pg36.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ossie_Davis_and_Ruby_Dee.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ruby_Dee_speaking.jpg
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:R.I.P._The_great_Ruby_Dee_copyright_2002_john_mathew_smith_(14405682574).jpg
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Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-15.