Biography: Ruby Dee was born Ruby Ann Wallace on October 27, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio to Gladys and Marshall Edward Nathaniel Wallace. She attended Hunter College. She joined the American Negro Theater as an apprentice. She performed at the American Shakespeare Festival. She married blues singer Frankie Dee Brown in 1941. She then married actor Ossie Davis, whom she met while costarring in Robert Ardrey's Jeb on Broadway. The couple became well-known civil rights activists, and jointly received the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton. They had three children: Guy Davis, Nora Day, and Hasna Muhammad.

Film/TV Credits: Film credits include: "American Gangster," "Do the Right Thing," "Cat People," "Just Cause," "A Thousand Words," "Baby Geniuses," "Jungle Fever," "A Raisin in the Sun," "A Simple Wish," and "Buck and the Preacher." Television credits include: "The Golden Girls," "Touched by an Angel," "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," "Guiding Light," "China Beach," "Today," and "The Fugitive."

Other Awards: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special for "Decoration Day" in 1991. Recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors with Ossie Davis in 2004. Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album with Ossie Davis for the album "With Ossie And Ruby: In This Life Together" in 2007.

Trivia:
She appeared with her husband Ossie Davis in nine films.
The marquees of Broadway theaters were dimmed in her honor on June 13, 2014.