Ruby Dee
Birthday: 1922-10-27 Place of Birth: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Synopsis
Ruby Dee was an American actress, poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and civil rights activist. She originated the role of "Ruth Younger" in the stage and film versions of A Raisin in the Sun. Her other notable film roles include The Jackie Robinson Story and Do the Right Thing.
Acting
Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal
The film chronicles the life and revolutionary times of death row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal.
A Thousand Words
Jack McCall is a fast-talking literary agent, who can close any deal, any time, any way. He has set his sights on New Age guru Dr. Sinja for his own selfish purposes. But Dr. Sinja is on to him, and Jack’s life comes unglued after a magical Bodhi tree mysteriously appears in his backyard. With every word Jack speaks, a leaf falls from the tree and he realizes that when the last leaf falls, both he and the tree are toast. Words have never failed Jack McCall, but now he’s got to stop talking and conjure up some outrageous ways to communicate or he’s a goner.
The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
In this film, childhood friends come face to face with the demons of rock and roll (lust, drugs, and passion) on a cross-country road trip that compels them to face their past, present, and future. Rocker Spyder, whose debut album was a huge hit saw his follow-on album bomb, causing him to retreat to his small hometown and give up. Seven years later, 27-year-old Spyder reconnects with his long-lost best friend and writer of his debut album Eric, son of a late great punk rock guitar legend, who has long settled into the sedate life of a suburban middle school music teacher. The reunion forces the two to recall their youthful ambitions and re-examine the choices they've made.
America
In "America," Dr. Maureen Brennan, a psychiatrist at a youth treatment center, encounters her newest patient, a bi-racial boy named America. Through their sessions, Dr. Brennan helps America come to terms with his roller-coaster life, which began when he was taken by authorities from his crack-addicted mother, and placed into foster care as an infant. The short time of stability in his life occurred when America lived with Mrs. Harper, the elderly nanny to one of his foster families. Later reunited with his mother, she soon abandons America and he is again placed into foster care. Lagging behind in school and full of anger, America retreats further away from society after years of sexual abuse. After attempting suicide, America is placed in a treatment center where Dr. Brennan helps him open up about his painful past and discover the support and courage he needs to get his life back on track.
All About Us
Two Hollywood filmmakers attempt to find Morgan Freeman in Mississippi and convince him to star in their next movie. When life gets in their way they soon discover what matters to them most.
Feast of All Saints
Set in nineteenth-century New Orleans, the story depicts the gens de couleur libre, or the Free People of Colour, a dazzling yet damned class caught between the world of white privilege and black oppression.
Finding Buck McHenry
When an 11 year old boy gets cut from his Little League baseball team, he sets out to form his own team.
Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Tells the story of Sadie and Bessie Delany, two African-American (they preferred "colored") sisters who both lived past the age of 100. They grew up on a North Carolina college campus, the daughters of the first African-American Episcopal bishop, who was born a slave, and a woman with an inter-racial background. With the support of each other and their family, they survived encounters with racism and sexism in their own different ways. Sadie quietly and sweetly broke barriers to become the first African-American home-ec teacher in New York City, while Bessie, with her own brand of outspokenness, became the second African-American dentist in New York City. At the ages of 103 and 101, they told their story to Amy Hill Hearth, a white New York Times reporter who published an article about them. The overwhelming response launched a bestselling book, a Broadway play, and this film.
Baby Geniuses
BabyCo is the world's leading manufacturer in baby products. However, what the public doesn't know, is that Drs Kinder and Heep, two of its most brilliant scientists, are tirelessly working in complete secrecy to crack the indecipherable code to 'baby talk': a highly sophisticated language, and the key to the secrets of the universe. Before long, problems arise when mischievous Sly, the smartest of the toddlers, escapes confinement, bent on uniting all babies to free those trapped in the laboratory. Now, Kinder and Heep must find Sly before it is too late.
A Simple Wish
Murray is a male fairy godmother, and he is trying to help 8-year-old Anabel to fulfil her "simple wish" - that her father Oliver, who is a cab driver, would win the leading role in a Broadway musical. Unfortunately, Murray's magic wand is broken and the fairies convention is threatened by evil witches Claudia and Boots.
Mr. and Mrs. Loving
A moving and uplifting drama about the effects of interracial marriage in the 1960s. Friends since childhood, and loved by both families, this couple are exiled after their wedding and have to wage a courageous battle to find their place in America as a loving family.
Just Cause
A Harvard professor is lured back into the courtroom after twenty-five years to take the case of a young black man condemned to death for the horrific murder of a child.
Whitewash
When Helene Angel walks home from school with her older brother she is attacked by a street gang and painted white. The effect on Helene and her family is devastating. Helene locks herself in her room, her brother blames himself for not having successfully defended his sister, and the media descends on their neighborhood, completely disrupting her small family. But an outpouring of love and understanding from Helene's friends, classmates and family helps her face what has happened and draws the community together. Inspired by actual events, WHITEWASH conveys a powerful message that transcends age and race, told in an entertaining way perfect for children of all ages.
Cop and ½
When a pint-sized 8-year-old kid witnesses a murder he offers to help the police, if they make him a cop, too. Saddled with this streetwise sidekick, a hardboiled cop is forced to take his new partner seriously as they race the clock to bring the bad guys to justice.
Jungle Fever
A successful and married black man contemplates having an affair with a white girl from work. He's quite rightly worried that the racial difference would make an already taboo relationship even worse.
Love at Large
Vampish miss Dolan hires hardboiled P.I. Harry Dobbs to tail her shady boyfriend. Harry realizes that the man leads a double life but then his client disappears. Harry teams up with his own tail, P.I. Stella Wynkowski, to clear things up.
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson
A film about the early life of the baseball star in the army, particulary his court-martial for insubordination regarding segragation.
Decoration Day
A cantankerous widower (Garner) who is virtually living the life of a recluse is forced to rejoin his community when his Godchild (Skaggs) gets in trouble and a childhood friend (Cobbs), a black tenant farmer, refuses to belatedly accept a Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in World War II.
Do the Right Thing
Salvatore "Sal" Fragione is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.
Lincoln
"Lincoln" was a 1988 American television mini-series starring Sam Waterston as Abraham Lincoln, Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln, and Richard Mulligan as William H. Seward. It was directed by Lamont Johnson and was based on Gore Vidal’s novel. It covers the time period running from Lincoln’s election as President of the United States to the time of his assassination. When released for home entertainment, the title was changed to "Gore Vidal's Lincoln"
Lamont Johnson won an Emmy for directing Lincoln.
The film was shot almost entirely in Richmond, Virginia and it cost $8 million to produce.
The Atlanta Child Murders
The city of Atlanta, Georgia, is terrorized by a rash of child murders occurring in its black community. When a black photographer is arrested for the crimes, controversy erupts over whether he is the actual killer or a scapegoat offered up by the city's mostly black leadership. Based on actual events.
The Atlanta Child Murders
The Atlanta Child Murders is a TV miniseries that aired on February 10 and 12, 1985 on CBS. Inspired by true events, the miniseries examines the so-called "Atlanta child murders" of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Cat People
After years of separation, Irena Gallier and her minister brother, Paul, reunite in New Orleans. When zoologists capture a wild panther, Irena is drawn to the cat – and zoo curator Oliver to her. Soon, Paul will have to reveal the family secret: that when sexually aroused, they revert into predatory jungle cats.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Based on writer Maya Angelou's eloquent reminiscences of her days as a gifted youngster growing up in the South during the Depression years where she and her older brother were raised by their grandmother after the divorce of their parents.
Countdown at Kusini
An American musician working in Nigeria becomes involved with a patriot hunted by a mercenary in Africa.
It's Good to Be Alive
This movie details the struggles of former Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella to adapt to life in a wheelchair following his crippling automobile accident in 1959. Cinematographer Ted Voigtlander was Emmy-nominated.
