Posted by | Ray Cornelius 

CNN is reporting that legendary stage and film actress, Ruby Dee has died.  According to her representative, she passed away on Wednesday (June 11) in her New Rochelle, New York home.  She was 91.

Best known for her unforgettable roles in such films as A Raisin the Sun, Buck and the Preacher  and Do the Right Thing, Dee was also an human rights activist who served as ‘soldier’ of  The Civil Rights Movement alongside her actor husband, the late Ossie Davis. These two, often seen together arm-in-arm, were close friends of the movement’s pioneers, Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Throughout her seven-decade career, Dee only received an Oscar nomination for her work in American Gangster and won an Emmy and Grammy respectively for other projects.

The following statement was released today about the actress from the African American Film Critics Association’s Gil Robertson IV:

“The members of the African American Film Critics Association are deeply saddened at the loss of actress and humanitarian Ruby Dee,” said Robertson. “Throughout her seven-decade career, Ms. Dee embraced different creative platforms with her various interpretations of black womanhood and also used her gifts to champion for Human Rights. Her strength, courage and beauty will be greatly missed.”

Stay tuned…

Photo Credit: FInance.yahoo.com

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