Plays in bold also feature Ruby Dee | * Broadway Production
Acting
Joy Exceeding Glory, (Rose McClendon Players, 1939) – Reverend Stokes
On Strivers Row (Rose McClendon Players, 1940) – Chuck Reynolds
Booker T. Washington (Rose McClendon Players, 1940) – Fred
Black Woman in White (Rose McClendon Players, 1941) – role unknown
*Jeb (Martin Beck Theatre, 1946) – Jeb Turner
*Anna Lucasta (Mansfield Theatre & Touring Company, 1946-47)
– Rudolph (replaced Earle Hyman)
*The Leading Lady (National Theatre, 1948) – Trem
*The Smile of the World (Lyceum Theatre, 1949) – Stewart (Ossie and Ruby were married while in rehearsals Dec. 9, 1948)
Stevedore (Equity Library Theatre, 1949) – Lonnie Thompson
*The Wisteria Trees (Martin Beck Theatre, 1950) – Jacques
The Royal Family (City Center, 1951) – Jo
*The Green Pastures (Broadway Theatre, 1951) – Gabriel
*Remains to Be Seen (Morosco Theatre, 1951) – Al
Jezebel’s Husband (Westport, CT, pre-Broadway tryout tour, 1952)
Touchstone (The Music Box, 1953) – Dr. Joseph Clay
*No Time for Sergeants (Alvin Theatre, 1956) – A Lieutenant (also Asst. Stage Manager, replaced Earle Hyman)
*Jamaica (Imperial Theatre, 1957) – Cicero
*A Raisin in the Sun (Belasco Theatre, 1959) – Walter Lee Younger (replaced Sidney Poitier)
*Purlie Victorious (Cort Theatre, 1961) – Purlie Victorious Judson
Ballad for Bimshire (Mayfair Theatre, 1963) – Sir Radio; producer
*The Zulu and the Zayda (Cort Theatre, 1965) – Johannes
Take It From the Top! (New Federal Theatre, 1979) – The Lord (and Director) – Book and Lyrics by Ruby Dee; Music by Guy Davis
*I’m Not Rappaport (Booth Theatre, 1986) – Midge (replaced Cleavon Little)
Two Hah Hahs and a Homeboy (Crossroads Repertory Theatre, 1995) – Compiled by Ruby Dee; Music by Guy Davis
Writing
The Goldbrickers of ’44 (Liberia, 1944)
Alice in Wonder (Elks Theatre, 1952)
The Big Deal (New Playwrights Company, Yugoslav Hall, 1953)
The People of Clarendon County, Chicago: Third World Press, 2007 (Local 1199, 1955)
What Can You Say to Mississippi (Local 1199, 1956)
Montgomery Footprints (Local 1199, 1957)
The Union Democracy Built (Local 1199, 1957)
*Purlie Victorious (Cort Theatre, 1961)
Curtain Call, Mr. Aldridge, Sir (1963)
*Purlie (Broadway Theatre, 1970) – book by Ossie
Escape to Freedom: A Play About Young Frederick Douglass, London: Puffin, 1990 (Town Hall, New York City, 1976)
Langston: A Play (1982)
Bingo! (AMAS Repertory, 1985) – also directed by Ossie
Paul Robeson, All American (Theatreworks USA, 1998)
A Last Dance for Sybil (New Federal Theatre, 2002)