Actress and pioneer of the civil rights movement Ruby Dee died on Wednesday at her home in New Rochelle, N.Y. She was 91.

Ruby Dee Dies

Dee began her lengthy career on the stage, working steadily on Broadway during the 40s. She appeared in 12 shows during the decade, including South Pacific (1943), Walk Hard (1944), Arsenic and Old Lace (1946) and John Loves Mary (1946).

The Jackie Robinson Story in 1950 was Dee’s breakout film, in which she played Rae Robinson. She went on to play Ruth Younger in the A Raisin in the Sun movie, and appear in a number of other films, including Edge of the City, Gone Are the Days , The Incident and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. She received an Oscar nomination for her work in 2007’s American Gangster alongside Denzel Washington.

Dee was also a constant presence on the small screen, making appearances on a number of TV series. Among the shows she was featured on were Police Woman, The Golden Girls, China Beach, Guiding Light. She also starred in a number of made-for-TV movies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, All God’s Children, Long Day’s Journey Into Night and Decoration Day – for which she won an Emmy.

Born in Harlem, New York in 1922, Dee went on to graduate from Hunter College in 1944. In the mid-1940s, she married blues singer Frankie Dee. They later divorced and she remarried with actor Ossie Davis, with whom she shared a passion for political activism. A member of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the NAACP, Dee was personal friends with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X during their lifetimes. She was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Freedom Award in 2005.

Davis predeceased Dee in 2005. She is survived by her children Nora, Hasna and Guy; and seven grandchildren.

GET THE FREE uINTERVIEW iPHONE APP FOR LATEST NEWS UPDATES