HR1448 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR1448 LRB094 21668 HSS 60068 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the State of Illinois are pleased to congratulate Ruby Dee on being the 2006 recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago International Film Festival Black Perspectives; and

WHEREAS, Ruby Dee was born on October 27, 1924, in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in Harlem, New York; she graduated from Hunter College in 1945 with degrees in French and Spanish; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Dee made several appearances on Broadway before receiving national recognition for her role in the film "The Jackie Robinson Story"; her acting career has crossed all major forms of media over a span of eight decades; and

WHEREAS, She has been nominated for eight Emmy Awards and won two, one for her role in "Decoration Day" and once for a guest appearance on the program "China Beach"; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Dee and her late husband, actor Ossie Davis, were well-known civil rights activists; she has been a member of CORE, the NAACP, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; and

WHEREAS, She has appeared in more than 20 films, and her notable stage appearances include roles in "A Raisin in the Sun" and Genet's "The Balcony"; in addition to her two Emmy awards, her acting has been honored with an Obie Award in 1971 for her performance in Athol Fugard's "Boesman and Lena", a Drama Desk Award in 1972 for her role in "Wedding Band", and an Ace Award for her ground-braking performance as Mary Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night"; as Kate in "The Taming of the Shrew" and Cordelia in "King Lear", in 1965, she became the first African-American woman to play major parts in the American Shakespeare Festival; she has written plays, musicals, and several books of poetry, and she turned her own stories and folk tales into the 1998 one-woman show "One Good Nerve"; and

WHEREAS, In 1988, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame; along with her husband, she has been inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame, awarded the Silver Circle Award by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the National Medal of Arts Award, and the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award; in December 2004, they were recipients of the John F. Kennedy Center Honors for their contributions to the performing arts; she is a member of Actors' Equity Association, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the Writers Guild; and

WHEREAS, In honor of her many achievements, Ms. Dee will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago International Film Festival Black Perspectives on Friday, October 13, 2006; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Ruby Dee on receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chicago International Film Festival Black Perspectives; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Ms. Dee as an expression of our deep respect and esteem.