A Raisin in the Sun Lobby Card, Sidney Poitier and Ruby Dee
A lot of stars are notorious for portraying exceptional couples in film:
- Maureen O’Hara and John Wayne
- Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart
- Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
- Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy
You can most certainly add Ruby Dee and Sidney Poitier to the list. They were phenomenal together, with a natural, unforced chemistry that always led you to believe they were married in real life! (Not only were they not married, they weren’t even romantically involved! I always have to remind myself of this when I see one of their films.)
- No Way Out (1950)
- Edge of the City (1957)
- A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
- Buck and the Preacher (1972)
- Go Man Go (1954)
Buck and the Preacher: Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, and Harry Belafonte
Of course, I have to quickly add that Ruby also had a great deal of chemistry with another talented actor by the name of Ossie Davis. THEY appeared together in NINE films:
- No Way Out (1950)
- Gone Are the Days! (1963)
- The Sheriff (1971)
- Cool Red (1976)
- Roots: The Next Generations (1979)
- All God’s Children (1980)
- Do the Right Thing (1989)
- Jungle Fever (1991)
- The Stand (1994)
The biggest difference between the two pairing? Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis had one of Hollywood’s most successful marriages – from 1948 to his death in 2005! They had three children. It is still so hard to imagine that these two are no longer with us.
Ruby Dee and Ossie Davis, Do The Right Thing
You can find A Raisin in the Sun on dvd (Amazon link) or watch on Prime Video.