Remembering Ruby Dee, 1922-2014

43rd Annual Emmy Awards
Ruby won an Emmy in 1991 for her role in Decoration Day. She would also win a Grammy and a Screen Actors Guild Award over the course of her career.Jim Smeal—WireImage/Getty Images
By TIME Staff
Jackie Robinson
Ruby Dee, an actress and civil rights activist, first gained national recognition for her role as Rae Robinson in the 1950 biopic The Jackie Robinson Story.FPG/Getty Images
Ruby Dee/C Mcneil/"A Raisin In The Sun"
One of her best known roles was as Ruth Younger in the 1961 drama A Raisin in the Sun.Bettman/Corbis
Actress Ruby Dee giving a reading at Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington
Ruby Dee was also a civil rights activist. Above, Dee is seen giving a reading at Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 March on Washington in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963.Charles Del Vecchio—The Washington Post/Getty Images
43rd Annual Emmy Awards
Ruby won an Emmy in 1991 for her role in Decoration Day. She would also win a Grammy and a Screen Actors Guild Award over the course of her career.Jim Smeal—WireImage/Getty Images
MCDAMGA EC062
One of her last roles was playing Mama Lucas in the 2007 film American Gangster, a role for which she would be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.Universal

More Must-Reads From TIME

Contact us at letters@time.com