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October 27
Born Ruby Ann Wallace in Cleveland, Ohio, her father, Marshall Edward Wallace, was a porter and waiter on the Pennsylvania Railroad; her mother, Emma Wallace, was a schoolteacher. She grew up in Harlem, New York, and was a 1945 graduate of Hunter College. Dee was the first black woman to appear in major roles at the American Shakespeare Festival, in Stratford, Conn., and made several appearances on Broadway before getting national recognition for her role in the 1950 film, The Jackie Robinson Story. Her acting career has crossed all major forms of media over a span of 8 decades, including films such as A Raisin in the Sun opposite Sidney Poitier (1961), Uptight (1968), Buck and the Preacher (1972), Roots (1978), Do The Right Thing (1989) and The Delany Sisters: The First Hundred Years (1999). During the 1960s, Dee appeared in such politically charged films such as Gone Are the Days and The Incident, which paved the way for many young African American filmmakers and actors. She has been nominated for seven Emmy Awards, winning once for her role in 1990's Decoration Day. Dee and her late husband, actor Ossie Davis, were well-known civil rights activists. She is a member of such organizations as CORE, the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Her son Guy Davis was born in 1952. She and her husband were personal friends of both Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, with Davis giving Malclom X's eulogy at his 1965 funeral. Dee is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority, and a survivor of breast cancer for more than thirty years. Reference: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Academy Foundation 8949 Wilshire Boulevard Beverly Hills, California 90211 Phone: 310-247-3000
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