Ruby Dee

Actress

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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

About this interview

In her two-hour interview, Ruby Dee (1922-2014) talks about her start in show business as an actress in feature films and on Broadway, and describes the experience of being an African American lead actress working in series television — a rare sight in the 1950s and '60s. She discusses her early television work, such as her regular role on the soap opera Guiding Light (as "Martha Frazier"). Dee details her involvement with the Civil Rights Movement, recounts her friendships with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., and shares how Sidney Poitier used to hold get-togethers for the movement's key individuals. She outlines her numerous roles in television movies and miniseries in the 1970s including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Roots: The Next Generations, which she and husband Ossie Davis helped bring to the small screen. She also talks of her many collaborations with Davis, including their radio show, With Ossie and Ruby (1981-82). Harold Dow conducted the interview on May 15, 2000 in New York, NY.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"I believe that human beings are like members of a cosmic orchestra. Each of us has a vibration and a sound. Each of us is a different instrument and as an actor, what I'm supposed to do is to hear the sounds and the silences and find the rhythms of the people."

People Talking About ...

Highlights

Ruby Dee on appearing as a regular on Peyton Place

01:03

Ruby Dee on meeting husband Ossie Davis

03:05

Ruby Dee on meeting Malcolm X

02:09

Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

07:23

Ruby Dee on how she'd like to be remembered

02:11

Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On her early years and influences; on changing her name; on growing up in Harlem; on writing poetry as a child; on her parents and siblings

On her hobbies growing up; on her mother insisting that she be dedicated to her schoolwork; on joining the American Negro Theater; on her jobs during her high school years; on wanting to be a dentist; on attending Hunter College; on her first marriage

Chapter 2

On her early film roles in What a Guy and in an army film to combat venereal disease; on attending Methodist church; on her her early recollections of television; on the 1939 World's Fair

On the American Negro Theater; on meeting Ossie Davis and on his talent; on the film "No Way Out;" on traveling cross-country by train; on protesting the death penalty for the Rosenberg; on being blacklisted and listed in Red Channels

Chapter 3

On her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement; on meeting Malcolm X; on meeting Martin Luther King, Jr; on the role of television in the Civil Rights Movement

On her television work in the 1960s; on appearing as a regular on Guiding Light and Peyton Place; on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots; on With Ossie and Ruby

Chapter 4

On Long Day's Journey Into Night and The Glass Menagerie; on A Raisin in the Sun, Decoration Day and on Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

On guest starring on Cosby in 1996; on how TV's portrayal of minorities has changed; on what represents the best of television; on how she'd like to be remembered

Shows

Cosby

Ruby Dee on guest starring on Cosby in 1996

00:45

Guiding Light

Ruby Dee on appearing as a regular on Guiding Light

01:09

Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

Ruby Dee on Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

01:28

Peyton Place

Ruby Dee on appearing as a regular on Peyton Place

01:03

Roots

Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

07:23

Roots: The Next Generations

Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

07:23

Topics

Characters & Catchphrases

Ruby Dee on her role on Peyton Place

01:03

Hollywood Blacklist

Ruby Dee on protesting the death penalty for the Rosenbergs and being blacklisted in Red Channels

12:12

Underrepresented Voices

Ruby Dee on her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement

15:07

Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

07:23

Ruby Dee on how TV's portrayal of minorities has changed

01:56

Professions

Actress

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Ruby Dee on one of her first film roles - an Army movie to combat venereal disease

00:27

Genres

TV Movies/Miniseries/Dramatic Specials

Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

07:23

People

Harry Belafonte

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Ruby Dee on meeting Martin Luther King, Jr., through Harry Belafonte

02:12

Bill Cosby

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Ruby Dee on guest starring on Cosby in 1996

00:45

Ossie Davis

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Ruby Dee on meeting husband Ossie Davis

03:05

Ruby Dee on Ossie Davis' talent

02:41

Ruby Dee on the film "No Way Out" with Sidney Poitier and Ossie Davis

00:59

Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

07:23

Alex Haley

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Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

07:23

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Ruby Dee on meeting Martin Luther King, Jr.

02:12

Ruby Dee on similarities and differences between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

03:41

Sidney Poitier

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Ruby Dee on the film "No Way Out" with Sidney Poitier and Ossie Davis

00:59

Ruby Dee on A Raisin in the Sun and Buck the Preacher

00:48

David L. Wolper

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Ruby Dee on her and husband Ossie Davis' involvement in the development of Roots

07:23

Malcolm X

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Ruby Dee on meeting Malcolm X

02:09

Ruby Dee on similarities and differences between Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

03:41