Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee is one of the most accomplished African-American performers in Hollywood history, having achieved an incredibly impressive list of film and television credits despite living through an era that was difficult, to say the least, for black performers in America. She is also a poet, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, and activist. She has just received her first Oscar nomination at the age of 83 for her brief but powerful performance in Ridley Scott's 'American Gangster' (playing Denzel Washington's mother), for which she was the surprise recipient of a SAG Award, beating out frontrunners Cate Blanchett and Amy Ryan.

Dee is an eight-time Emmy nominee, and won once for the 1990 TV movie 'Decoration Day.' She also received a 2007 Grammy for Best Spoken Word Album with her late husband Ossie Davis, for which they tied with former President Jimmy Carter. Some of her film credits include 'A Raisin in the Sun,' 'Edge of the City,' 'Gone are the Days,' 'The Incident,' 'Their Eyes Were Watching God,' and 'Jungle Fever.' She has long been known for her fervent activism, and famously delivered the eulogy with Ossie Davis at Malcolm X's funeral in 1965.