Ruby Dee Movies
African-American stage, film, and TV luminary Ruby Dee was born in Cleveland, the daughter of a Pullman-porter father and schoolteacher mother. While growing up in Harlem, Dee developed an interest in the theater. In 1941, she began studying under Morris Carnovsky at the American Negro Theatre. While attending Hunter College, she made her first professional stage appearance in South Pacific (not the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, but a short-lived 1943 drama). On Broadway from 1946, Dee's first major success was as the title character in Anna Lucasta. In 1948, she married actor Ossie Davis, with whom she has since appeared in everything from Shakespeare to TV margarine commercials. Though she and Davis were both uncredited in their joint film debut, 1950's No Way Out, Dee achieved second billing in her next feature, The Jackie Robinson Story (1950). Among her favorite stage roles were Ruth Younger in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, and Luttiebelle in her husband Ossie Davis' play Purlie Victorious, roles that she would commit to film in 1961 and 1963 respectively. On TV, Dee was a regular on The Guiding Light, Roots: The Next Generations, and The Middle Ages;
Dee worked steadily throughout the 1970s, '80s, dividing her time more or less equally between television [with turns in such small-screen movies as The Atlanta Child Murders (1981), The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson (1990) and the 1990 Decoration Day, for which she won an Emmy] and the big screen, where her credits included the features Cat People (1982), Cop and a Half (1993) and A Simple Wish (1997). Dee received a career resurgence thanks to her prominent enlistment in the features of Spike Lee (alongside Davis), notably Do the Right Thing (1989) and Jungle Fever (1991). As time rolled on, she also began to participate in documentaries, such as the 1998 Christianity: The First Thousand Years and the 1999 Smithsonian World: Nigerian Art - Kindred Spirits); made guest appearances in such prime-time series as Touched by an Angel; and essayed a prominent role opposite Halle Berry in the telemovie Oprah Winfrey Presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005). She continued to work steadily after Davis's death in early 2005, and in fact received her first Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nomination for her role in Ridley Scott's period crime saga American Gangster (2007).
In addition to her acting credits, Ruby Dee is an accomplished writer; she has contributed a weekly column to New York's Amsterdam News, co-authored the script for the 1967 film Up Tight!, penned the 1975 TV play Twin-Bit Gardens, and published a book of poetry, Glowchild (1972). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In this made-for-TV movie from the Lifetime Channel, Rosie O'Donnell stars as Dr. Maureen Brennan, a child psychiatrist who helps a 16-year-old boy named America (Philip Johnson) overcome years of childhood trauma, including growing up with a crack-addicted mother and being shuffled through a series of foster homes. The teleplay is based on a novel by E.R. Frank, who used her real-life experiences as a social worker as the basis for this tragic but ultimately hopeful story of transformative healing. ~ Kimber Myers, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie O'Donnell, Philip Johnson, (more)
Three women struggle with the joys and sorrows of love in this three-part drama from writer and director Kyle Schickner. Teenaged Elizabeth (Kate Siegel) has been raised in a conservative, deeply religious household, and when she goes away to college she revels in her first taste of freedom. Elizabeth falls into a relationship with Niala (Reshma Shetty), an attractive and free-spirited bisexual, and is introduced to the heady pleasures of sex. However, while Elizabeth is deeply in love with Niala, she soon discovers that Niala puts little stock in exclusive relationships. Laurie (Ally Sheedy) is in her mid-forties and has lost nearly everything in a messy divorce, including full custody of her son, who now spends half his time with his father and his new (and younger) wife. Laurie is so filled with resentment and anger that she can scarcely get through the days until she meets her son's soccer coach, who wastes no time letting Laurie know he's smitten with her. And Doris (Ruby Dee) is an elderly woman who is deep in mourning after the death of her husband. While friends and volunteers from her church try to help Doris break out of her funk, she seems inconsolable until she meets a man her own age who lost his wife. The two bond over their shared loss and fall in love, but while they're eager to marry, the man's son is convinced Doris' motives are not pure. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruby Dee, Ally Sheedy, (more)
Award-winning filmmaker Christine Swanson follows up her feature debut All About You) with this romantic drama concerning two desperate Hollywood filmmakers who make the journey from Los Angeles to Mississippi in hopes of convincing Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman to take the lead in their latest production. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Boris Kodjoe, Ryan Michelle Bathe, (more)
- 2006
A spirited older woman decides to bring her quarrelsome family together for a party in this comedy drama from New Zealand playwright-turned-filmmaker Toa Fraser. Eightysomething Nana Maria (Ruby Dee) was born in Fiji, but has spent most of her life in New Zealand, where she lives in a run-down but beautiful house on Mount Raskil with her fully grown granddaughter Charlene (Mia Blake), Charlene's young daughter, and Erasmus (Rene Naufahu), another adult grandchild who has a drinking problem. One morning, Nama Maria wakes up early and decides the family shall gather for a celebratory feast, complete with a roast pig. However, Charlene and Erasmus understand just how tall an order this is -- Nana has two sons, Percy (Pio Terei) and John (Nathaniel Lees), who can't stand one another and barely tolerate their other relations, while grandson Tyson (Xavier Horan) has made a name for himself in business and would rather spend time with his girlfriend from Holland than see his uncles. But somehow Nana Maria's children, grandchildren, and even some great-grandchildren are rounded up for the occasion, some lured by her promise that she will announce who will inherit her estate after she's gone. No. 2 received its North American premiere at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ruby Dee, Taungaroa Emile, (more)
- 2005
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Originally telecast March 6, 2005, by ABC, this "Oprah Book Club" TV movie is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, a certified classic of African-American literature. Covering the first 30 years of the 20th century, the film is set in Eatonville, FL, a largely black community and the home of free-spirited Janie Crawford (Halle Berry). Forced into marriage with a much older and much wealthier man at age 16, Janie endures both this unhappy union and a second equally dismal marriage, trapped not only by the bonds of matrimony but also by the rigid patriarchal society of the period. Her only happiness is manifested in her ongoing illicit romance with a younger, none too reliable gent known as Tea Cake (Michael Ealy) -- much to the shock and dismay of her very proper neighbors. Devotees of the original novel expressed displeasure over the film's sketchy portrayal of the protagonist, a multidimensional character reduced to an impulsive hedonist for the purposes of the screenplay (though Halle Berry's towering performance more than compensates for the weaknesses of the scripts). More than that, the fans of the Hurston original bemoaned the loss of the novel's pronounced racial content, which harshly criticized the caste system within the Southern black community of the early 20th century, whereby a light-skinned woman was regarded as "superior," and thus more desirable, than her darker-skinned sisters. No one, however, could find fault with performance of the great Ruby Dee as Nanny, nor the film's lush production trappings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Halle Berry, Michael Ealy, (more)
- 2005
A year after his wife's death and nearly a decade since his last visit home, successful New York lawyer Spencer Krane (Michael Houston King) returns home to care for his ailing grandmother in director Reza S. Badiyi's character-driven family drama. Jo McMillan (Julie Harris) has suffered a massive stroke, and now her grandson Spencer has returned home to care for the woman who raised him. As Spencer reconnects with such important people from his childhood as his grandmother's lifelong friend Maude (Ruby Dee) and his childhood sweetheart Sarah Marshall (Tessie Santiago), he gradually begins to realize just how far he has strayed from the values that he had been taught as a young boy. Spencer has experienced a fair share of tragedy over the years, and now as he arrives in the old Florida town of Sanford he may finally find the peace that allows him to come to terms with the past, and look toward the future with a newfound sense of hope. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael H. King, Julie Harris, (more)
- 2003
Actress Lisa Gay Hamilton makes her directorial debut with the documentary Beah: A Black Woman Speaks, a biography of actress and writer Beah Richards, whom Hamilton had worked with on The Practice and Beloved. The production of this project spanned many years; Hamilton realized, early on, that Richards was dying, and thus secured her participation during the actress's final year - though the picture wasn't realized until after three her death. Born in Mississippi, Richards moved to New York City in 1950 to begin acting in off-Broadway productions. In addition to her distinguished acting career, she was also an accomplished poet, playwright, teacher, and social activist. In 1967, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her supporting role in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner Shortly before her death in 2000, she won an Emmy for her guest starring role on The Practice. The original musical score is provided by Bernice Johnson Reagon from Sweet Honey in the Rock. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beah Richards, Marylouise Patterson, (more)
- 2002
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Among the tasks undertaken by the WPA's Federal Writers' Project in the 1930s was to transcribe the memories of those former African-American slaves who were still living. The result was a massive collection of notes, documents, and recordings, all of which found their way into the Library of Congress. Co-produced by the Library and the HBO cable channel, Unchained Memories: Readings From the Slave Narratives features a truly impressive array of black actors and actresses verbally recreating the reminiscences of those who lived under the yoke of slavery. The performers themselves appeared in modern dress, standing before a neutral background as they read from the transcripts, while directors Ed Bell and Thomas Lennon complemented the words with vivid and disturbing images culled from contemporary photographs of the years 1850-1935. Tied in with a traveling museum exhibit of photos and recordings, Unchained Memories was telecast during Black History Month, 2003. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Based on a true story, Taking Back Our Town is a Lifetime original movie. Laura Innes plays Pat Melancon, a housewife and environmental activist. She forms a coalition to stop the chemical corporation Shintech from building a plant in her town. Already overly polluted, her township is known as "cancer alley." Fighting against the wealthy company brings Pat and her coalition all the way to the Governor. Also stars Ruby Dee and Hallee Hirsh. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Laura Innes
Robert Wise brings his distinguished name and considerable directorial skill to this remake of a 1970 Rod Serling TV drama. Set in 1969, Abel Shaddick (Peter Falk), a crotchety deli owner, has a grudge against virtually everyone in his upstate New York town of Fairview, particularly against his slacker nephew Stanley (Andrew McCarthy) who lives behind the shop. Without telling his uncle, Stanley agrees to put up a needy city kid for the summer as part of a charity program run by rich debutante Gloria (Nastassja Kinski). Abel immediately vetoes the plan, but it is too late. The kid, young Herman Washington (Aaron Meeks), is already on his way. Though initially the two intensely dislike each other, they bond over fishing and war heroes -- Abel's son died during WWII, while Herman's brother was killed in Vietnam. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Falk, Aaron Meeks, (more)
A boy discovers that his coach may be more than just a nice old man who likes baseball in this family-oriented drama. Jason, a kid who loves baseball, is not doing very well with his Little League team, and he is bumped from the regular line-up to an "expansion team" of kids who aren't making the grade. Determined to make good, Jason recruits a couple of friends who are strong players, and he discovers that his school's janitor, Mack Henry, knows the game backwards and forwards and is willing to serve as coach. With Mack's help, the team starts to show promise, but a visit to a baseball card collector's shop sparks a question in Jason's mind -- could Mr. Henry be Buck McHenry, the legendary star of baseball's Negro League? Finding Buck McHenry is based on the popular young people's book by Alfred Slote, and stars Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Schiffman, Ossie Davis, (more)
- 1999
Although she has turned her back on the poor, violence-ridden East Saint Louis ghetto of her birth, Brianna (Suzanne Douglas) is reluctantly drawn back to the old neighborhood for her annual Yuletide visit with LaBelle (Ruby Dee), the mother of her husband Robert ($Cleavant Derricks). Brianna is clearly unhappy about visiting LaBelle, and even more so when the old woman generously opens her doors to an seedy derelict named Gabe (Ossie Davis). The situation takes a tragic turn when Robert is killed in a carjacking, whereupon LaBelle offers to help Brianna out until she can get back on her financial feet. But Brianna is too proud, and too stubborn, to accept such an offer, and it takes Monica (Roma Downey) to lead Brianna down the path to salvation--with a little help from Gabe, who blows a mean trumpet (yes, he's THAT "Gabe"!) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1998
From the days when Jesus walked the Earth with his small band of disciples, and then was crucified for his teachings, Christianity's story has been one of passion and politics, struggle and conflict. This program chronicles the story of Christianity, from its beginnings as a subversive religion to its adoption by the Roman Empire to its spread throughout the world. This documentary investigates the politics of the Popes, the influence of paganism, and the persecutions and wars fought in the name of Christ, who exhorted His followers to love one another. Lofty achievements, such as the establishment of missions to feed and educate the needy, are presented. Artwork, re-enactments based on the scriptures, on-location footage at holy sites, and scholarly commentary provide an in-depth look at the first one thousand years of the evolution of this influential religious movement. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, All Movie Guide
At the shiny black length of the Vietnam wall, visitors come to pay respects and often leave behind mementos. This drama looks at the moving stories behinds three such tiny tributes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Edward James Olmos, Ruby Dee, (more)
- 1996
Devoted parents search for their daughter in this strange, fact-based made-for-television movie. Set in the 1850s, Louis Gossett Jr. stars as James Mink, a wealthy Canadian businessman who is married to a white woman (Kate Nelligan). When their daughter is duped into marrying a slave trader, the Minks set out for the American South to track down their missing daughter and bring her back home. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
