Ruby is Her Name

Ruby Dee was born in Cleveland (OH) but her family moved to Harlem (NY) when she was a baby with her two siststers, brother, and parents (Marshall and Emma Wallace). In the evening, Ruby and her siblings would read aloud to each other from the poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Wordsworth, and Paul Laurence Dunbar. As a teenager, she submitted poetry to the New York Amsterdam News, a Black weekly newspaper.

Ruby has admitted that during her younger years she was a shy girl and always felt a burning desire to express herself.

Ruby's love of English and poetry motivated her to study the arts. She attended Hunter High School, one of New York's first-rate schools that had the brightest girls. While in high school, she decided to pursue acting. In her undergraduate years at Hunter College, she took a class in radio training offered through the American Theater Wing. This training led to a part in the radio serial Nora Drake.

After college, Ruby worked as a French and Spanish translator. However, she knew that the theater was to be her destiny.

Ruby has established the Ruby Dee Scholarship in Dramatic Art. This scholarship is awarded to talented young Black women who want to become established in the acting profession.

SOURCE