Ruby Dee died this week. There are several numbers to note in her passing:
–91, her age at death
–61, the number of years she was married to Ossie Davis
–30+, the number of years she survived breast cancer
In addition to her many other accomplishments in the movies, on stage and television, and in public life, she was the first African American woman to play major roles at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. She also starred in A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the first play by a black woman to be performed on Broadway.
