With Ossie and Ruby

by Davis, Ossie

• ISBN13: 9780688175825
• ISBN10: 0688175821
• Format: Paperback
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

This is the captivating, inspiring autobiography of a star couple who''ve celebrated 50 years of marriage. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee are legendary stars of the American stage, television, and film, a beloved and revered couple cherished not just for their acting artistry but also for their lifelong commitment to civil rights, family values, and the black community. Now they look back on a half- century of their personal and political struggles to maintain a healthy marriage and to create the record of distinguished accomplishment that earned each a Presidential Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. With Ossie and Ruby overflows with consummate storytelling skill developed by decades in the spotlight. From their early years as struggling actors in Harlem''s black theater to Broadway and Hollywood stardom, they regale the reader with colorful, entertaining tales of the places they''ve been and the people they''ve met. But their charming humor is leavened with a more serious side, as they share their experiences of keeping a family together in a world where scandal and divorce is the rule, and of being artists and political activists in an era of intense racial ferment. Born into the struggle, their characters were shaped by the dynamic collisions of life, politics, and art; and from those experiences, they achieved some sense of their worth as married people, friends, and lovers. Warm, positive, and compelling, this is a book that will surprise and challenge readers everywhere -- black and white, male and female, young and old. Lifting the veil of public image, media hype, and mystique, Ossie and Ruby speak of the real-life dilemmas and rewards of their lifelong search for purpose and value. Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee are legendary stars of the American stage, television, and film, a beloved and revered couple cherished not just for their acting artistry but also for their lifelong commitment to civil rights, family values, and the black community. Now they look back on a half- century of their personal and political struggles to maintain a healthy marriage and to create the record of distinguished accomplishment that earned each a Presidential Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.With Ossie and Ruby overflows with consummate storytelling skill developed by decades in the spotlight. From their early years as struggling actors in Harlem''s black theater to Broadway and Hollywood stardom, they regale the reader with colorful, entertaining tales of the places they''ve been and the people they''ve met. But their charming humor is leavened with a more serious side, as they share their experiences of keeping a family together in a world where scandal and divorce is the rule, and of being artists and political activists in an era of intense racial ferment. Born into the struggle, their characters were shaped by the dynamic collisions of life, politics, and art; and from those experiences, they achieved some sense of their worth as married people, friends, and lovers.Warm, positive, and compelling, this is a book that will surprise and challenge readers everywhere -- black and white, male and female, young and old. Lifting the veil of public image, media hype, and mystique, Ossie and Ruby speak of the real-life dilemmas and rewards of their lifelong search for purpose and value.Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee are legendary stars of the American stage, television, and film, a beloved and revered couple cherished not just for their acting artistry but also for their lifelong commitment to civil rights, family values, and the black community. Now they look back on a half- century of their personal and political struggles to maintain a healthy marriage and to create the record of distinguished accomplishment that earned each a Presidential Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts.With Ossie and Ruby overflows with consummate storytelling skill developed by decades in the spotlight. From their early years as struggling actors in Harlem''s black theater to Broadway and Hollywood stardom, they regale the reader with colorful, entertaining tales of the places they''ve been and the people they''ve met. But their charming humor is leavened with a more serious side, as they share their experiences of keeping a family together in a world where scandal and divorce is the rule, and of being artists and political activists in an era of intense racial ferment. Born into the struggle, their characters were shaped by the dynamic collisions of life, politics, and art; and from those experiences, they achieved some sense of their worth as married people, friends, and lovers.Warm, positive, and compelling, this is a book that will surprise and challenge readers everywhere -- black and white, male and female, young and old. Lifting the veil of public image, media hype, and mystique, Ossie and Ruby speak of the real-life dilemmas and rewards of their lifelong search for purpose and value.

Table of Contents

Prologue	p. xiii
Before We Met
Ruby Is Born at Seven	p. 3
Ossie Is Still a Mistake	p. 7
Under One Roof	p. 12
The Waycross Years	p. 20
From the Fire Escape	p. 30
Center High School and Valdosta, 1930-1934	p. 41
Ruby's Harlem	p. 56
The Howard Years, 1935-1939	p. 72
Steps Along the Way	p. 88
Ossie's Harlem	p. 99
Some Men in My Life	p. 120
World War Two, 1942-1945	p. 124
Ruby Turning Corners	p. 139
Home Is the Soldier	p. 144
We Meet	p. 147
Jeb: The Play Is the Thing	p. 151
The American Negro Theatre: Anna Lucasta	p. 157
The Fight Never Ends	p. 172
Hookin' Up	p. 182
Movies and Complications	p. 187
Giant Steps	p. 202
Tall Targets	p. 222
Connections to the Left	p. 231
The World of Sholom Aleichem and Beyond	p. 239
The Plot Thickens	p. 252
New Work, New Territory	p. 271
Big Breakthroughs	p. 280
Struggle, Realities, and Art	p. 295
Marches, Movements, and Martyrs	p. 304
Sex Comes out of the Closet	p. 315
In Control, but Still in Crisis	p. 326
The Family Comes of Age	p. 346
A Teaspoonful of Power	p. 364
We, the Family, Become a Company	p. 377
Going Through the Fire	p. 396
My One Good Nerve	p. 404
Now That We Are Elders	p. 415
Love, Marriage, and Struggle	p. 425
A Bridge to Ourselves	p. 440
Appendix	p. 447
Index	p. 459
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