Upon hearing of Ruby Dee’s death at the age of 91 on June 11, I was saddened. I quietly remembered my mother who loved the actress. “I love me some Ruby Dee,” she would often say.
The love for Dee was shared by the Black community and beyond. During the recent Tony Awards presentation, Audra McDonald, in accepting her sixth award for her portrayal of Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” humbly stated, “I stand on the shoulders of such great Black women as Ruby Dee, Maya Angelou, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll and, of course, Billie Holiday.”
Although it was noted that Dee very seldom played the lead role, she had an unrelenting stage presence, a sincere soft voice full of concern that pulled the audience into her characters, keeping one captivated until the end and always returning for more.
She appeared in two of Spike Lee’s films, “Do the Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever,” in which she played a devoted wife trying to keep the peace between her religiously strict, Bible-quoting husband (played by Ossie Davis, her real-life husband of 57 years) and two sons, one a drug addict (played by Samuel Jackson) and the other an architect (played by Wesley Snipes). While the focus was not on Dee, it was intriguing to see how her character would navigate the family’s volatile relationships.
After graduating from Hunter College in the mid-1940s, she continued acting at the American Negro Theater, which produced plays in the basement of the New York Public Library’s Harlem branch.
She was the first Black actress to appear regularly in major roles such as Cordelia in “King Lear” and Kate in “Taming of the Shrew” at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn. In 1968, she became the first Black actress to have a regular role in a primetime TV series when she appeared on “Peyton Place.”
Some years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Dee. At the time, she was on set doing a commercial. I was very nervous interviewing the great Ruby Dee. Approaching me, she stated, “I’m honored to meet you.” I mumbled something about being a great fan and loving her acting, but her voice was a calming force that settled me down.
She was multitasking on the set, so we kept being interrupted. Once, upon her return, she said, “It’s sweet of you to be so patient.” At that moment I just wanted to pack up and go to heaven—what else is left after Ruby Dee declares you to be sweet?
As for her roles, she noted she just chose the ones that felt right to her, saying, “In life you have to do what you feel is right.”
The current revival of “Raisin in the Sun,” now playing at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway (the same stage as the original production), won three Tonys, including one for Sophie Okonedo, who plays Ruth Younger. In 1959, Dee originally played the role of Ruth with Sidney Poitier as Walter Lee Younger. Earlier, in 1950, she played Rachel Robinson, Jackie Robinson’s wife, in the “Negro” film based on the life of Jackie Robinson, who played himself.
In 1946 she joined the cast of a Broadway-bound play entitled “Jeb,” where she met the star Davis, who became her husband in 1948. Davis passed away in 2005.
She and Davis were the ideal couple of Black America, not resting on their laurels but doing everything to make America a better place for all. Not worrying about their acting careers, they picketed Broadway shows that didn’t employ Black actors and spoke against film crews that hired few Blacks or none at all. They also spoke out against the Vietnam War and helped organize a campaign to have Paul Robeson’s passport returned after it was revoked by the government.
We will remember her disarming voice, smile and those piercing eyes with the sparkle that grabbed our attention.
When Jimmy Scott passed away on June 12 at the age of 88, he left behind recordings of his work that will be studied and inspire for generations to come. Known as “Little Jimmy Scott,” the singer possessed one of the most distinctively haunting voices to be heard in jazz or any other genre.
Scott began singing in the 1940s with the Lionel Hampton Band, making his first hit with them in 1949, “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool.”
Throughout his over six decades in music, it was difficult to categorize his sound. For the most part, he was heavily submerged in the waters of blues, R&B and jazz, with a taste of spiritual music. His unique, high-pitched voice that never changed after he became an adult was due to a rare genetic condition called Kallmann syndrome, which caused his body to stop maturing before he reached puberty.
A diverse group of vocalists held him in high regard, including Marvin Gaye, Frankie Valli, Nancy Wilson, Madonna and Guns N’ Roses’ lead singer, Axl Rose. Holiday noted Scott was one of her favorite singers. Perhaps she heard that same haunting sound that was so strong in her vocals.
Whether you were an average fan or celebrity, once you appeared at one of his performances, you became part of his cult. His mesmerizing voice addicted listeners and captured their souls. It didn’t matter what he sang—“Someone to Watch Over Me” from the Great American Songbook, “Why Was I Born” or Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U.”
Todd Barkan, who produced four of Scott’s critically acclaimed albums on the Milestone Jazz Label, stated, “The more I worked with Jimmy, the more I realized he was a true angel of song. He made all of our lives richer for what he shared with us.”
Scott performed with Charlie Parker, Lester Young, Quincy Jones, Ray Charles and Wynton Marsalis, and even crossed over genres to join David Byrne and Lou Reed. Although he stopped performing in the 1970s and made no records between 1975 and 1990, he made a terrific comeback that lasted until a few years before he died. Just two years ago, he performed in Harlem downstairs at Red Rooster’s Ginny’s Supper Club.
Scott received the 2007 NEA Jazz Master Award, the Kennedy Center’s “Jazz in Our Time” Living Legend Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Jazz Foundation of America in 2010. He was inducted into the R&B Hall of Fame in 2013.
Scott sang from the heart with a haunting sound that made a profound statement in the annals of American music that made us all the better for listening.