Ruby Dee: Last News

Michaela Zee editorThe Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is celebrating 73 years of Black film artistry with the new exhibit titled Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971.Curated by the Academy Museum’s Doris Berger and Rhea Combs of the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, the first-of-its-kind exhibition features seven galleries exploring Black representation in film, from portraits of icons like Ruby Dee and Nina Mae McKinney to home videos of the Nicholas Brothers and Cab Calloway. “It’s really exciting for us to be able to help expand the conversation around American cinema, essentially, by bringing forward these important contributions by Black filmmakers as well as performers and other artisans and technicians,” Combs tells Variety.  Since 2017, Berger and Combs have been acquiring a vast collection of costumes, scripts, drawings and other historical materials for “Regeneration” by digging through multiple archives at the Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library and even traveling to Berlin and Paris. The co-curators located myriad never-before-shown pieces, including a sequined evening gown worn by Lena Horne in 1943’s “Stormy Weather” and a copy of the rediscovered 1939 film “Reform School,” which they restored in time for the exhibition.About last night…Lena Horne’s gown from 1943’s “Stormy Weather” at the @AcademyMuseum pic.twitter.com/2Dfbvi9lh3— Marc Malkin (@marcmalkin) August 19, 2022Through “Regeneration,” Berger and Combs aim to capture the nuances of Black performance and film creation from the start of the motion picture industry to the rise of the Blaxploitation era of the early 1970s. “I really hope that it creates the opportunity for public dialogue and intergenerational dialogue,” Combs says.

Angelique Jackson Former Vice President Kamala Harris will be honored with the Chairman’s Award at the NAACP Image Awards. Harris will accept the prestigious honor, in her first TV appearance since leaving office, during the 56th Image Awards ceremony on Feb. 22, airing live from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium at 8:00 p.m.

The NAACP and BET said Monday that Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will receive this year’s Chairman’s Award on Saturday at the 56th NAACP Image Awards.

Ridley Scott’s American Gangster.The biographical crime film is loosely based on the criminal activity of Frank Lucas, who smuggled heroin into the US on American service planes returning from the Vietnam war.Other cast members include Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee, Idris Elba, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ted Levine, and Lymari Nadal.The film was released in 2007, and went onto land two Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Supporting Actress for Ruby Dee.After obtaining a warrant, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) and his detectives lead a raid on Frank’s (Denzel Washington) heroin facility, which results in the death of Frank’s nephew Stevie Lucas (Tip Harris). Frank is arrested during the raid alongside his brothers.During Frank’s trial, Roberts offers him an opportunity to lessen his sentence by exposing corrupt police officers.

Ridley Scott’s American Gangster.The biographical crime film is loosely based on the criminal activity of Frank Lucas, who smuggled heroin into the US on American service planes returning from the Vietnam war.Other cast members include Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee, Idris Elba, Cuba Gooding Jr., Ted Levine, and Lymari Nadal.The film was released in 2007, and went onto land two Oscar nominations for Best Art Direction and Best Supporting Actress for Ruby Dee.The film’s soundtrack is by Marc Streitenfeld, who has also collaborated with Ridley Scott on Body Of Lies, Prometheus, and 2010’s Robin Hood.You can stream the full score below.A wealth of songs by blues and soul musicians also feature on the soundtrack, ranging from Bobby Womack to John Lee Hooker.

The Chi, Unprisoned and Bookie are among the winners of the Sixth Annual AAFCA TV Honors, which celebrate distinguished achievements in television and streaming.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Cord Jefferson will write and executive produce the upcoming Scarlett Johansson limited series, which serves as her first major television role. The “American Fiction” filmmaker has boarded the Amazon Prime Video adaptation of John Katzenbach’s novel “Just Cause.” Additionally, acclaimed writer John Wells has joined the project, co-writing the series with Jefferson, and will also serve as an executive producer. “Just Cause,” first published in 1992, tells the story of Matt Cowart, a Miami reporter.

Long before Slave Play, decades before Ain’t No Mo, there was Purlie Victorious, the Ossie Davis comedy masterwork that, like those descendant plays, fused broad comedy, satirical minstrelsy, racial satire and still-relevant social commentary to create a play that is so encompassing in its views of history and legacy, so generous in its humanity and pinpoint sharp in its take on debts long owed and now demanded that Kenny Leon’s revival, opening tonight on Broadway, feels as current and bracing as a folding chair.

The previously announced Broadway revival of the Ossie Davis comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch starring Leslie Odom, Jr. will begin previews on Thursday, September 7, at The Music Box Theatre, with an opening date to be announced.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor Angela Bassett goes into the Oscars as a supporting actress nominee for her work in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The first and last time she was nominated was 29 years ago for “What’s Love Got to Do With It.” On Wednesday night, she recalled her early days in Hollywood. “When I came into this business, the path was not clear,” Bassett said while being honored at Time magazine’s Women of the Year gala at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills. “I grew up at a time when it was a special occasion when people who looked like me were featured on the television screen or movie screen or in the theaters. But it was women like Rosalind and Ruby Dee and Diahann Carroll and Cicely Tyson, whose perseverance and resilience led me to have courage — courage to stay the course no matter what the obstacles.”

Tony & Grammy winner Leslie Odom, Jr. will star in a new Broadway production of the classic American comedy Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch by Ossie Davis. Purlie Victorious will be staged by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon, with the production scheduled to begin in late summer 2023 for the 2023-2024 Broadway season.

Angela Bassett has gone where no Marvel character has gone before. On Tuesday the star received a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for her role as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.The historic nod made her the first woman, the first person of color and the first Marvel Studios actor to be nominated for an Oscar for their performance in a comic book adaptation.At 64, she is the second oldest black woman to be nominated for an acting Oscar, following Ruby Dee, who was nominated for her role in 2007's American Gangster at the age of 84.  History: Angela Bassett, 64, made history Tuesday as the first Marvel star to be nominated for an Oscar for  their role in a Marvel film.

General Hospital actress Sonya Eddy has died aged 55, her close friend Octavia Spencer has announced.Oscar winner Octavia, 52, revealed the tragic loss of Sonya on Tuesday, sharing a poignant snap of the actress and lauding her 'creative angel'.She wrote: 'My friend @sonyaeddy passed away last night. The world lost another creative angel.

EXCLUSIVE: In her first major foray into television, Scarlett Johansson is set to star in and executive produce Just Cause, a thriller limited series based on John Katzenbach’s 1992 novel. In a very competitive situation, the project, from writer Christy Hall (I’m Not OK With This, Daddio), Johansson’s These Pictures banner and Warner Bros. TV, has landed at Amazon Studios with a straight-to-series order for Prime Video.

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) will present AAFCA Salutes Broadway on Monday, October 17th at the Lamb’s Club in the heart of New York’s theater district.

William Earl “Death of a Salesman” actor Wendell Pierce, “The Piano Lesson” director LaTanya Richardson Jackson and “Till” star John Douglas Thompson are among the honorees set for the inaugural Salute to Broadway presented by the African American Film Critics Association. The event is set for Oct. 17 at The Lambs Club in the heart of Midtown’s theater district. “It’s no secret that some of our greatest actors have come from the stage or have tested their chops on it,” said Gil Robertson, co-founder of AAFCA. “Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis are just a handful of our beloved icons for which this was true, with Tony winners Denzel Washington, Viola Davis, Audra McDonald, Adrienne Warren and Myles Frost among those continuing that legacy. As a reliable pipeline for outstanding Black talent in front of the camera as well as behind it, Hollywood has benefited greatly from this esteemed training ground and AAFCA Salutes Broadway celebrates that rich heritage.”

Academy Award-nominated actor and producer Samuel L. Jackson (The Hateful Eight, Pulp Fiction) will be honored at the 53rd NAACP Image Awards with the prestigious Chairman’s Award, the NAACP and BET announced today.