Dee, Ruby (1922-2014), was an African American actress and writer who often performed with her husband, Ossie Davis . Dee and Davis appeared together on the stage, on television, and in motion pictures. The couple also were active in civil rights and humanitarian causes.
Dee appeared in several plays, notably A Raisin in the Sun (1959) by the African American playwright Lorraine Hansberry , Purlie Victorious (1961) by her husband, and Boesman and Lena (1970) by the South African playwright Athol Fugard . She also appeared in the film versions of A Raisin in the Sun (1961) and Purlie Victorious (retitled Gone Are the Days! 1963). Her other motion pictures included No Way Out (1950), The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Edge of the City (1957), St. Louis Blues (1958), Buck and the Preacher (1972), Cat People (1982), and American Gangster (2007). Dee also appeared in two films by the American director Spike Lee —Do the Right Thing (1989) and Jungle Fever (1991).
Dee co-wrote the screenplay for the film drama Up Tight (1968). A collection of her stories, poems, and essays was published as My One Good Nerve: Rhythms, Rhymes, Reasons (1986). Dee adapted two African folk tales into children’s books, Two Ways to Count to Ten (1988) and Tower to Heaven (1991). With her husband, she wrote With Ossie and Ruby: In This Life Together (1998). The book is a memoir of their lives in the American theater and an account of what it meant to be African American in the 1900’s.
Dee was born on Oct. 27, 1922, in Cleveland and grew up in the Harlem area of New York City. Her real name was Ruby Ann Wallace. Dee’s stage career began with the American Negro Theatre in the early 1940’s. Dee first gained recognition in the title role of the play Anna Lucasta in the mid-1940’s. She was married to Ossie Davis from 1948 until his death in 2005. In 2008, Dee won the Spingarn Medal for her achievements in acting and civil rights. Dee died on June 11, 2014.
