Her long, versatile career spanned stage, radio, TV and film, so it was rather fitting that Ruby Dee’s daughter said ”She took her final bow … surrounded by her children and grandchildren.”

Dee died of natural causes at age 91 at home in New Rochelle, New York.

Her husband of 56 years, Ossie Davis, died in 2005.

They met in 1945 when she auditioned for the Broadway play ”Jeb”, starring Davis.

The couple shared billing in 11 stage productions and five movies.

Both were active in civil rights, serving as masters of ceremonies for the 1963 March on Washington.

Dee spoke at the funerals for Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X.

Among her best-known films was ”A Raisin in the Sun” in 1961.

She earned an Oscar nomination at age 83 for best supporting actress for playing the mother of a mob boss in the 2007 movie ”American Gangster”.