Ruby Dee
Biography
Movies 95
American Gangster
as Mama Lucas
2007
Do the Right Thing
as Mother Sister
1989
Cat People
as Female
1982
A Thousand Words
as Annie McCall
2012
Jungle Fever
as Lucinda Purify
1991
Just Cause
as Evangeline Ferguson
1995
A Simple Wish
as Hortence
1997
Baby Geniuses
as Margo
1999
A Raisin in the Sun
as Ruth Younger
1961
The Incident
as Joan Robinson
1967
Uptight
as Laurie
1968
Buck and the Preacher
as Ruth
1972
Feast of All Saints
as Elsie Claviere
2001
Edge of the City
as Lucy Tyler
1957
Cop & ½
as Rachel
1993
Video Girl
as Valerie
2011
No Way Out
as Connie Brooks (uncredited)
1950
The Tall Target
as Rachel
1951
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
as Self (archive footage)
1970
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
as Self
2014
The Jackie Robinson Story
as Rae Robinson
1950
Their Eyes Were Watching God
as Nanny
2005
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story
as Indigo
1996
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
as Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
1999
Take a Giant Step
as Christine
1959
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
as Self
2004
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
as Self
1989
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
as Miss Candy
2011
Poitier's Walter Lee
as Self (archive footage)
2018
Baby of the Family
Sports on the Silver Screen
as Self (archive footage)
1997
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
as Self
1998
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
as Sophia
1996
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
as Jackie's Mother
1990
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003
Go Tell It on the Mountain
as Mrs. Grimes
1984
The Way Back Home
as Maude
2006
Betty and Coretta
as Narrator
2013
Zora is My Name!
as Zora Neale Hurston
1990
Gone Are the Days!
as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
1963
Whitewash
as Grandmother (voice)
1994
Love at Large
as Corrine Dart
1990
The Unfinished Journey
as Narrator (voice)
1999
The Ernest Green Story
as Lydia Wilson
1993
Taking Back Our Town
as Emelda West
2001
Virgin Island
as Ruth
1959
Finding Buck McHenry
as Mrs. Henry
2000
No. 2
as Nanna Maria
2006
Steam
as Doris
2007
All About Us
as Ms. Ella
2007
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
as Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
1972
A Storm in Summer
as Grandmother
2000
The Stand
1994
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
as (archive footage)
2004
All God's Children
as Irene Whitfield
1980
Deadlock
as Lucinda
1969
Color Adjustment
as Narrator
1992
Black Girl
as Netta's mother
1972
It's Good to Be Alive
as Ruth Campanella
1974
Go Man Go
as Irma Jackson
1954
The Sheriff
as Sue Ann Lucas
1971
In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema
as Herself
2007
Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson
as Self
2007
America
as Mrs. Harper
2009
St. Louis Blues
as Elizabeth
1958
Diamonds on the Silver Screen
as Self
Passing Glory
as Mommit Porter
1999
Politics of Love
2011
Decoration Day
as Rowena
1990
The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six
1980
The Fight Never Ends
1948
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
as Self
2013
The Balcony
as Thief
1963
Neighbours
as Vicky Kingsbury
1966
Tuesday Morning Ride
as Jennie
1995
That Man of Mine
as Joan
1946
The Wall
as Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
1998
Chelsea D.H.O.
as Dr. Bianca Pearson
1973
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
as Grandmother Baxter
1979
Now is the Time
as Self
1967
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
as Self
1999
A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School
as Narrator (voice)
2009
Countdown at Kusini
as Leah Matanzima
1976
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
as Self
2002
Long Day's Journey Into Night
as Mary Tyrone
1982
Wedding Band
as Julia Augustine
1974
Easy to Get
as Drugstore Girl
1947
Discovering William Greaves
as Self
2006
What a Guy
1948
Jazztime Tale
as Narrator (voice)
1991
A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner
as Narrator
1998
Love in Exile
2026
After Goodbye
as Narrator
1993
Love in Syncopation
1946
On Merit
as Narrator (voice)
1972TV Shows 30
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
as Mary Wilson
2000
Great Performances
as Self
1971
The Dick Cavett Show
as Self - Guest
1968
The Fugitive
as Laura Smith
1963
American Experience
as Narrator (voice)
1988
The Golden Girls
as Mammy Watkins
1985
Touched by an Angel
as LaBelle Springbelt
1994
American Playhouse
as Mrs. Grimes
1982
American Playhouse
as Zora Neale Hurston
1982
Police Woman
1974
The Defenders
as Catherine Collins
1961
The Oscars
as Self
1953
Reading Rainbow
as Self - Narrator (voice)
1983
China Beach
1988
The Kennedy Center Honors
as Self
1978
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
as Grandma (voice)
1995
Spenser: For Hire
1985
The Stand
as Mother Abagail Freemantle
1994
The Great Adventure
as Harriet Tubman
1963
Little Bill
1999
Roots: The Next Generations
as Queen Haley
1979
Iconoclasts
as Self
2005
Hollywood Black
as Self (archive footage)
2024
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Rowena Finch
1951
The Atlanta Child Murders
as Faye Williams
1985
Armchair Theatre
as Vicky Kingsbury
1956
Lincoln
as Elizabeth Keckley
1988
Middle Ages
as Estelle Williams
1992
Christianity: The First 1000 Years
as Herself - Narrator
1998
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
as Narrator
2002