Filmography
Ruby Dee
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
2000 · Mary Wilson
Great Performances
1971 · Self
American Experience
1988 · Narrator (voice)
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · Self - Guest
The Fugitive
1963 · Laura Smith
Touched by an Angel
1994 · LaBelle Springbelt
American Playhouse
1982 · Mrs. Grimes, Zora Neale Hurston
The Golden Girls
1985 · Mammy Watkins
Police Woman
1974 · Actor
The Defenders
1961 · Catherine Collins
Reading Rainbow
1983 · Self - Narrator (voice)
The Oscars
1953 · Self
China Beach
1988 · Actor
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
1995 · Grandma (voice)
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978 · Self
Spenser: For Hire
1985 · Actor
The Stand
1994 · Mother Abagail Freemantle
American Gangster
2007 · Mama Lucas
The Great Adventure
1963 · Harriet Tubman
Little Bill
1999 · Actor
Roots: The Next Generations
1979 · Queen Haley
Iconoclasts
2005 · Self
Do the Right Thing
1989 · Mother Sister
Hollywood Black
2024 · Self (archive footage)
Hallmark Hall of Fame
1951 · Rowena Finch
Cat People
1982 · Female
A Thousand Words
2012 · Annie McCall
The Atlanta Child Murders
1985 · Faye Williams
Armchair Theatre
1956 · Vicky Kingsbury
Just Cause
1995 · Evangeline Ferguson
Jungle Fever
1991 · Lucinda Purify
Baby Geniuses
1999 · Margo
Lincoln
1988 · Elizabeth Keckley
A Simple Wish
1997 · Hortence
Cop & ½
1993 · Rachel
A Raisin in the Sun
1961 · Ruth Younger
Middle Ages
1992 · Estelle Williams
Buck and the Preacher
1972 · Ruth
No Way Out
1950 · Connie Brooks (uncredited)
Uptight
1968 · Laurie, Writer
Christianity: The First 1000 Years
1998 · Herself - Narrator
The Incident
1967 · Joan Robinson
Edge of the City
1957 · Lucy Tyler
Feast of All Saints
2001 · Elsie Claviere
The Jackie Robinson Story
1950 · Rae Robinson
Video Girl
2011 · Valerie
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970 · Self (archive footage)
Captive Heart: The James Mink Story
1996 · Indigo
Their Eyes Were Watching God
2005 · Nanny
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
1999 · Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany
Beah: A Black Woman Speaks
2004 · Self
The Sheriff
1971 · Sue Ann Lucas
Taking Back Our Town
2001 · Emelda West
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
2011 · Miss Candy
The Tall Target
1951 · Rachel
Zora is My Name!
1990 · Zora Neale Hurston
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
1989 · Self
Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years
2002 · Narrator
Gone Are the Days!
1963 · Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins
The Way Back Home
2006 · Maude
Take a Giant Step
1959 · Christine
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003 · Actor
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
1996 · Sophia
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
2014 · Self
Steam
2007 · Doris
Go Tell It on the Mountain
1984 · Mrs. Grimes
Finding Buck McHenry
2000 · Mrs. Henry
The Unfinished Journey
1999 · Narrator (voice)
Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood
1998 · Self
Love at Large
1990 · Corrine Dart
The Stand
1994 · Actor
Baby of the Family
TBA · Actor
Sports on the Silver Screen
1997 · Self (archive footage)
A Storm in Summer
2000 · Grandmother
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
2004 · (archive footage)
Chelsea D.H.O.
1973 · Dr. Bianca Pearson
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
1990 · Jackie's Mother
In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema
2007 · Herself
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
1972 · Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters
America
2009 · Mrs. Harper
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
2013 · Self
Whitewash
1994 · Grandmother (voice)
Decoration Day
1990 · Rowena
No. 2
2006 · Nanna Maria
St. Louis Blues
1958 · Elizabeth
Passing Glory
1999 · Mommit Porter
All About Us
2007 · Ms. Ella
Neighbours
1966 · Vicky Kingsbury
Deadlock
1969 · Lucinda
Virgin Island
1959 · Ruth
That Man of Mine
1946 · Joan
Color Adjustment
1992 · Narrator
All God's Children
1980 · Irene Whitfield
The Ernest Green Story
1993 · Lydia Wilson
The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six
1980 · Actor
Now is the Time
1967 · Self
Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson
2007 · Self
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
1999 · Self
Black Girl
1972 · Netta's mother
Easy to Get
1947 · Drugstore Girl
Betty and Coretta
2013 · Narrator
Tuesday Morning Ride
1995 · Jennie
Diamonds on the Silver Screen
TBA · Self
The Fight Never Ends
1948 · Actor
Poitier's Walter Lee
2018 · Self (archive footage)
It's Good to Be Alive
1974 · Ruth Campanella
The Wall
1998 · Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")
Countdown at Kusini
1976 · Leah Matanzima
Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'
2002 · Self
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
1979 · Grandmother Baxter
Long Day's Journey Into Night
1982 · Mary Tyrone
A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School
2009 · Narrator (voice)
Love in Exile
2026 · Actor
Politics of Love
2011 · Actor
Go Man Go
1954 · Irma Jackson
A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner
1998 · Narrator
Discovering William Greaves
2006 · Self
Wedding Band
1974 · Julia Augustine
On Merit
1972 · Narrator (voice)
The Balcony
1963 · Thief
Jazztime Tale
1991 · Narrator (voice)
Love in Syncopation
1946 · Actor
After Goodbye
1993 · Narrator
What a Guy
1948 · Actor