Editing Ruby Dee (section)

==Personal life==
=== Marriage ===
Ruby Wallace married blues singer Frankie Dee Brown in 1941, and began using his middle name as her stage name. The couple divorced in 1945.<ref name=wapo/> Three years later she married actor [[Ossie Davis]], whom she met while costarring in [[Robert Ardrey]]'s 1946 Broadway play ''[[Jeb (play)|Jeb]]''.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|author=Felicia R. Lee |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/20/garden/at-home-with-ossie-davis-and-ruby-dee-art-and-politics-keeping-it-all-fresh.html |title=At home with: Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee; Art and Politics: Keeping It All Fresh |work = [[The New York Times]] |date=April 20, 1995 |access-date=June 12, 2014}}</ref> Together, Dee and Davis wrote an autobiography in which they discussed their political activism and their decision to have an [[open marriage]] (later changing their views).<ref>{{cite web | author=Sheri Stritof; Bob Stritof | url=http://marriage.about.com/od/quotes/a/ossierubyopen.htm | title=Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee on Open Marriage | publisher=About.com | access-date=2007-01-11 | archive-date=February 10, 2007 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210143920/http://marriage.about.com/od/quotes/a/ossierubyopen.htm | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://marriage.about.com/od/quotes/a/ossierubyopen.htm|title=Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee on Open Marriage|work=About.com|access-date=July 30, 2008|archive-date=February 10, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070210143920/http://marriage.about.com/od/quotes/a/ossierubyopen.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Together they had three children: son, blues musician [[Guy Davis (musician)|Guy Davis]], and two daughters, Nora Day and Hasna Muhammad. Dee was a [[breast cancer]] survivor of more than three decades.<ref name=abc>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/oscar-nominee-ruby-dee-died-91/story?id=24107963 |title=Oscar Nominee Ruby Dee Dead at 91 – ABC News |work=ABC News |date=October 16, 2013 |access-date=June 12, 2014}}</ref> In 1979, the [[Supersisters]] trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Dee's name and picture.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wulf |first=Steve |url=https://www.espn.com/espnw/news-commentary/story/_/id/12535055/original-roster |title=Supersisters: Original Roster |publisher=ESPN |date=2015-03-23 |access-date=2015-06-04}}</ref>

=== Political activism ===
Dee and Davis were well-known [[Civil and political rights|civil rights]] activists in the [[Civil Rights Movement]].<ref>[http://www.ossieandruby.com The official site of Ossie Davis & Ruby Dee], ossieandruby.com; accessed March 3, 2014.</ref> Dee was a member of the [[Congress of Racial Equality]] (CORE), the [[NAACP]], the [[Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee]], [[Delta Sigma Theta]] sorority, and the [[Southern Christian Leadership Conference]]. She was also as an active member of the Harlem Writers Guild for over 40 years. In 1963, Dee [[emcee]]d the [[March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom]].<ref name=chron>{{cite web |author=Mark Kennedy|url=https://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Ruby-Dee-s-legacy-of-activism-acting-mourned-5548224.php |title=Ruby Dee's legacy of activism, acting mourned – Houston Chronicle |publisher=Chron.com |access-date=June 12, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140613175552/http://www.chron.com/entertainment/article/Ruby-Dee-s-legacy-of-activism-acting-mourned-5548224.php |archive-date=June 13, 2014 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Dee and Davis were both personal friends of both [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and [[Malcolm X]], with Davis giving the [[eulogy]] at Malcolm X's funeral in 1965.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.malcolmx.com/about/eulogy.html|title=Malcolm&nbsp;X's Eulogy|access-date=September 6, 2009|publisher=The Official Website of Malcolm X|last=Davis|first=Ossie|author-link=Ossie Davis|date=February 27, 1965|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006110705/http://www.malcolmx.com/about/eulogy.html|archive-date=October 6, 2014|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 1970, she won the [[Frederick Douglass]] Award from the New York [[Urban League]].<ref name=cnn_obit/> In 1999, Dee and Davis were arrested at [[1 Police Plaza]], the headquarters of the [[New York Police Department]], protesting the police shooting of [[Amadou Diallo]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/News/9903/24/showbuzz/index.html |title=Showbuzz – March 24, 1999 |work=CNN|date=March 24, 1999 |access-date=June 12, 2014}}</ref>

In early 2003, ''[[The Nation]]'' published "Not in Our Name", an open proclamation vowing opposition to the impending US [[Iraq War|invasion of Iraq]]. Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis were among the signatories, along with [[Robert Altman]], [[Noam Chomsky]], [[Susan Sarandon]], and [[Howard Zinn]], among others.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}} In November 2005, Dee was awarded – along with her late husband – the Lifetime Achievement Freedom Award, presented by the National Civil Rights Museum located in [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]. Dee, a long-time resident of [[New Rochelle, New York]], was inducted into the [[New Rochelle Walk of Fame]] which honors the most notable residents from throughout the community's 325-year history. She was also inducted into the [[Westchester County, New York|Westchester County]] Women's Hall of Fame on March 30, 2007, joining such other honorees as [[Hillary Clinton]] and [[Nita Lowey]].<ref name=wc>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Ruby Dee To Be Named To Women's Hall Of Fame|url=http://westchester.com/Westchester_News/Westchester_Community_News/Ruby_Dee_To_Be_Named_To_Women's_Hall_Of_Fame_200703067510.html|work=Westchester.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070506081112/http://westchester.com/Westchester_News/Westchester_Community_News/Ruby_Dee_To_Be_Named_To_Women%27s_Hall_Of_Fame_200703067510.html|date=March 6, 2007|archive-date=May 6, 2007|access-date=January 23, 2008|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 2009, she received an honorary [[Doctor of Fine Arts]] degree from [[Princeton University]].<ref name=usatoday6>{{cite web|url=http://entertainthis.usatoday.com/2014/06/12/6-great-moments-from-ruby-dees-legendary-career/ |title=6 great moments from Ruby Dee's legendary career &#124; Entertain This! |publisher=Entertainthis.usatoday.com |access-date=June 12, 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S24/39/63E27/index.xml?section=newsreleases Princeton awards five honorary degrees] (news release) News at Princeton. Princeton University. June 2, 2009. Retrieved May 3, 2016</ref>

=== Death ===
Dee died on June 11, 2014, at her home in [[New Rochelle, New York]], from [[Manner of death|natural causes]] at the age of 91.<ref>{{cite news|last1=NEUMAIER|first1=Joe|title=Ruby Dee dead at 91|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/ruby-dee-dead-91-article-1.1827040|access-date=June 12, 2014|agency=New York Daily News|date=June 12, 2014}}</ref> In a statement, [[Gil Robertson IV]] of the [[African-American Film Critics Association]] said, "the members of the African American Film Critics Association are deeply saddened at the loss of actress and humanitarian Ruby Dee. Throughout her seven-decade career, Dee embraced different creative platforms with her various interpretations of black womanhood and also used her gifts to champion for Human Rights."<ref name=cnn_obit>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/12/showbiz/obit-ruby-dee/ |title=Screen, stage legend Ruby Dee dies at 91 |work=CNN |access-date=June 12, 2014}}</ref>

"She very peacefully surrendered", said her daughter Nora Day. "We hugged her, we kissed her, we gave her our permission to go. She opened her eyes. She looked at us. She closed her eyes, and she set sail." Following her death, the marquee on the [[Apollo Theater]] read: "A TRUE APOLLO LEGEND RUBY DEE 1922–2014".<ref>Denis Slattery, Joe Dziemianowicz, Larry McShane, [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/ruby-dee-dead-91-article-1.1827040 "Ruby Dee dead at 91: Legendary stage and screen actress — and Civil Rights leader — frequently costarred with husband Ossie Davis"], ''Daily News'' (New York), June 12, 2014.</ref>

Dee was cremated, and her ashes are held in the same urn as that of Davis, with the inscription "In this thing together".<ref name=wapo/> A public memorial celebration honoring Dee was held on September 20, 2014, at the [[Riverside Church]] in [[Upper Manhattan]].<ref>[http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/09/20/memorial-honoring-ruby-dee-held-at-manhattan-church/ "Memorial Honoring Ruby Dee Held At Riverside Church"], CBS, New York, September 20, 2014.</ref> Their shared urn was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.<ref>[https://ferncliffcemetery.com/visit-ferncliff/celebrities-notables/ Celebrities & Notables Interred at: Ferncliff Mausoleum]. ferncliffcemetery.com. Retrieved June 12, 2023.</ref>