Ruby Dee
Ruby Dee (October 27, 1922 - June 11, 2014) was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun. Her other notable film roles include The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Do the Right Thing (1989) and American Gangster (2007).
American Gangster
as Mama LucasFollowing the death of his employer and mentor, Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas establishes himself...
Movie page
A Simple Wish
as HortenceMurray is a male fairy godmother, and he is trying to help 8-year-old Anabel to fulfil her...
Movie page
Jungle Fever
as Lucinda PurifyA successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work....
Movie page
Cat People
as FemaleAfter years of separation, Irena Gallier and her minister brother, Paul, reunite in New Orleans....
Movie page
A Thousand Words
as Annie McCallJack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has...
Movie page
Do the Right Thing
as Mother SisterSalvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local,...
Movie page
Just Cause
as Evangeline FergusonA Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of...
Movie page
The Tall Target
as RachelA detective tries to prevent the assassination of President-elect Abraham Lincoln during a train...
Movie page
Baby Geniuses
as MargoBabyCo is the world's leading manufacturer in baby products. However, what the public doesn't...
Movie page
Buck and the Preacher
as RuthA wagon master and a con-man preacher help freed slaves dogged by cheap-labor agents out West.
Movie page
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
as SelfThe film chronicles the life and revolutionary times of death row political prisoner Mumia...
Movie page
No Way Out
as Connie Brooks (uncredited)Two hoodlum brothers are brought into a hospital for gunshot wounds, and when one of them dies...
Movie page
Betty and Coretta
as NarratorThe widows of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X and how they carry on as single mothers after the...
Movie page
A Raisin in the Sun
as Ruth YoungerWalter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment...
Movie page
The Incident
as Joan RobinsonTwo hoodlums terrorize the passengers of a late-night New York City subway train.
Movie page
Edge of the City
as Lucy TylerAn army deserter and a black dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager.
Movie page
Their Eyes Were Watching God
as NannyA drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her...
Movie page
A Storm in Summer
as GrandmotherSet in 1969, Abel Shaddick, a crotchety deli owner, has a grudge against virtually everyone in...
Movie page
Cop and ½
as RachelWhen a pint-sized 8-year-old kid witnesses a murder he offers to help the police, if they make...
Movie page
Steam
as DorisThree women — a young coed, a forty-something single mother, and one a senior-aged widow — meet...
Movie page
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
as Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' DelanyTells the story of Sadie and Bessie Delany, two African-American (they preferred "colored")...
Movie page
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
as Self (archive footage)Constructed from a wealth of archival footage, the documentary follows Dr. Martin Luther King,...
Movie page
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story
as IndigoJames Mink is a black man in Canada who has built a very successful livery business, and enjoys...
Movie page
Go Tell It on the Mountain
as Mrs. GrimesThis film adaptation of James Baldwin's celebrated novel tells the journey of a family from the...
Movie page
Color Adjustment
as NarratorFrom Amos 'n' Andy to Nat King Cole, from Roots to The Cosby Show, black people have played many...
Movie page
The Jackie Robinson Story
as Rae RobinsonBiography of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player in the 20th century....
Movie page
Uptight
as LaurieBlack militants building up an arsenal of weapons in preparation for a race war are betrayed by...
Movie page
Feast of All Saints
as Elsie ClaviereSet in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free...
Movie page
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
as Grandmother BaxterBased on writer Maya Angelou's eloquent reminiscences of her days as a gifted youngster growing...
Movie page
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
as SophiaA moving and uplifting drama about the effects of interracial marriage in the 1960s. Friends...
Movie page
Virgin Island
as RuthA British woman marries an American writer in spite of her family's disapproval and goes to live...
Movie page
Decoration Day
as RowenaA cantankerous widower (Garner) who is virtually living the life of a recluse is forced to...
Movie page
The Balcony
as ThiefThe Madam of a brothel satisfies the erotic fantasies of her customers, while a revolution is...
Movie page
Love at Large
as Corrine DartVampish miss Dolan hires hardboiled P.I. Harry Dobbs to tail her shady boyfriend. Harry realizes...
Movie page
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
as Jackie's MotherA film about the early life of the baseball star in the army, particulary his court-martial for...
Movie page
Countdown at Kusini
as Leah MatanzimaAn American musician working in Nigeria becomes involved with a patriot hunted by a mercenary in...
Movie page
No. 2
as Nanna MariaA matriarch organizes a feast with her family, in which she will name her successor. The heart...
Movie page
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
as SelfIn this open-letter style documentary, Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis' rich lives guide their grandson...
Movie page
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
as uncreditedWhen the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years...
Movie page
Tuesday Morning Ride
as JennieTuesday Morning Ride is based on the short story "A Summer Tragedy" by Arna Bontemps, a Harlem...
Movie page
Video Girl
as ValerieLorie Walker is a small town girl whose big dreams of becoming a dancer come true when she...
Movie page
Whitewash
as Grandmother (voice)When Helene Angel walks home from school with her older brother she is attacked by a street gang...
Movie page
All About Us
as Ms. EllaTwo Hollywood filmmakers attempt to find Morgan Freeman in Mississippi and convince him to star...
Movie page
The Wall
as Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")The story of three items left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall: a pencil holder, a...
Movie page
The Sheriff
as Sue Ann LucasA rape case opens racial divisions in a small town. A black sheriff and his white deputy...
Movie page
In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema
as HerselfThis documentary captures the sounds and images of a nearly forgotten era in film history when...
Movie page
Take a Giant Step
as ChristineThis pioneering film in the history of African-American cinema, released two years before "A...
Movie page
Deadlock
as LucindaThe murder of a journalist, coming shortly after the killings of a black teenager and a white...
Movie page
All God's Children
as Irene WhitfieldBig city judge Parke Denison is involved in a forced busing dispute at the climax of his long...
Movie page
The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six
as uncreditedIn 1963 a group of young Black boys living in Harlem were involved in an incident that earned...
Movie page
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
as SelfPaul Robeson: Here I Stand presents the life and achievements of an extraordinary man. Athlete,...
Movie page
Passing Glory
as Mommit PorterA true story of a priest (Andre Braugher) in New Orleans who formed a group of black players and...
Movie page
It's Good to Be Alive
as Ruth CampanellaThis movie details the struggles of former Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella to adapt to...
Movie page
Gone Are the Days!
as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae JenkinsA young, idealistic man returns home to the plantation where he grew up in servitude. With him,...
Movie page
Finding Buck McHenry
as Mrs. HenryWhen an 11 year old boy gets cut from his Little League baseball team, he sets out to form his...
Movie page
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
as (archive footage)Discover how television has reflected the African American experience in this retrospective of...
Movie page
Zora is My Name!
as Zora Neale HurstonA celebration of the life of Zora Neale Hurston, who was born at the turn of the 20th Century...
Movie page
After Goodbye
as NarratorAward-winning actress Ruby Dee narrates this powerful documentary about the impact of AIDS on...
Movie page
A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School
as Narrator (voice)For a seventy-year period, when America cared little about the education of African-Americans,...
Movie page
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
as SelfBeah: A Black Woman Speaks is a 2003 documentary about the life of Academy Award nominated...
Movie page
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
as Miss CandyIn this film, childhood friends come face to face with the demons of rock and roll (lust, drugs,...
Movie page
Black Girl
as Netta's motherAn aspiring dancer and her two wicked sisters resent their mother's love for a foster daughter.
Movie page
Politics of Love
as uncreditedPolitics makes strange bedfellows, but never stranger than when a sexy, savvy, African-American...
Movie page
Wedding Band
as Julia AugustineA drama which examines the enduring nature of love between a white man and a black woman in 1918...
Movie page
Go Man Go
as Irma JacksonThe story of Abe Saperstein and the creation of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Movie page
Discovering William Greaves
as SelfA documentary on the career of William Greaves, featuring Greaves, his wife and co-producer...
Movie page
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
as Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted charactersA mosaic biopic on Lorraine Hansberry, based on the stage play combining her unpublished...
Movie page
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
as SelfPanel discussion about the original Broadway production of Lorraine Hansbury's "A Raisin in the...
Movie page
The Ernest Green Story
as Lydia WilsonFollows the story of Ernest Green, one of the Little Rock Nine who were the first blacks to...
Movie page
St. Louis Blues
as ElizabethWill Handy grows up in Memphis with his preacher father and his Aunt Hagar. His father intends...
Movie page
The Fight Never Ends
as uncreditedJoe Louis, portraying himself, is a good influence on a group of Harlem youths who are tempted...
Movie page
Easy to Get
as Drugstore GirlU.S. Army training film about avoiding venereal disease, intended primarily for Black servicemen.
Movie page
Jazztime Tale
as Narrator (voice)Family - Set in Harlem in 1919, two girls - one white, one black - form a lifelong friendship...
Movie page
That Man of Mine
as JoanFeaturing the swinging sounds of the all-woman band The International Sweethearts of Rhythm and...
Movie page
America
as Mrs. HarperIn "America," Dr. Maureen Brennan, a psychiatrist at a youth treatment center, encounters her...
Movie page
Love in Syncopation
as uncreditedFollows the band's rise in show business, starting with its origins in the Navy during World War...
Movie page
Poitier's Walter Lee
as Self (archive footage)An interview with film scholar Mia Mask, co-editor of Poitier Revisited.
Movie page
Long Day's Journey Into Night
as Mary TyroneOver the course of one day in August 1912, the family of retired actor James Tyrone grapples...
Movie page
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
as SelfLouis Gossett Jr. takes viewers through a special documentary celebration of the groundbreaking...
Movie page
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
as Mary WilsonA Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the...
TV Show page
The Dick Cavett Show
as Self - GuestThe Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various...
TV Show page
The Fugitive
as Laura SmithRichard Kimble is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death penalty. En route...
TV Show page
Touched by an Angel
as LaBelle SpringbeltMonica, an angel, is tasked with bringing guidance and messages from God to various people who...
TV Show page
The Golden Girls
as Mammy WatkinsFour Southern Florida seniors share a house, their dreams, and a whole lot of cheesecake....
TV Show page
American Experience
as Narrator (voice)TV's most-watched history series brings to life the compelling stories from our past that inform...
TV Show page
Great Performances
as SelfThe best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse...
TV Show page
Reading Rainbow
as Herself - Narrator (voice)Journey to exciting places and build a lasting connection with your favorite books. Each episode...
TV Show page
The Stand
as Mother AbagailAfter a deadly plague kills most of the world’s population, the remaining survivors split into...
TV Show page
Police Woman
as uncreditedSergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los...
TV Show page
The Defenders
as Catherine CollinsThe Defenders is an American courtroom drama series . It starred E. G. Marshall and Robert Reed...
TV Show page
Spenser: For Hire
as uncreditedMystery and suspense series based on Robert Parker's "Spenser" novels. Spenser, a private...
TV Show page
The Kennedy Center Honors
as SelfThe Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their...
TV Show page
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
as Grandma (voice)Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child is an American anthology animated television series.
TV Show page
China Beach
as uncreditedDateline: November 1967. Within klicks of Danang, Vietnam, sits a U.S. Army base, bar and...
TV Show page
Little Bill
as uncreditedLittle Bill is a television show for children that is presently on Nick Jr. The stories are...
TV Show page
The Great Adventure
as Harriet TubmanThe Great Adventure is a historical anthology series that appeared on CBS for the 1963-1964...
TV Show page
Roots: The Next Generations
as Queen Victoria HaleyRoots: The Next Generations is a television miniseries, introduced in 1979, continuing, from...
TV Show page
Iconoclasts
as SelfIconoclasts is a Sundance Channel show. Each episode pairs two "creative visionaries" who...
TV Show page
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Rowena FinchHallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark...
TV Show page
The Atlanta Child Murders
as Faye WilliamsThe Atlanta Child Murders is a TV miniseries that aired on February 10 and 12, 1985 on CBS....
TV Show page
Lincoln
as Elizabeth Keckley"Lincoln" was a 1988 American television mini-series starring Sam Waterston as Abraham Lincoln,...
TV Show page
Middle Ages
as Estelle WilliamsMiddle Ages is an American comedy-drama television series that aired from September 3 until...
TV Show page
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
as NarratorA two-series set produced by the A&E network which explores the history of Christianity and its...
TV Show page