RUBY DEE: Still Going Strong At 83

By Karu F. Daniels with Toni Clark, AOL Black Voices

Ruby Dee is basking in the glow of box-office success.

The 83-year-old acting legend has a starring role in the new hit movie 'American Gangster,' which surpassed the $100 million mark in its first three weeks of release.

Dee, who first appeared in the 1939 film 'What A Guy,' reunites with Denzel Washington in the critically-acclaimed Ridley Scott-helmed epic based on the rise and fall of reputed drug lord Frank Lucas.

"I wasn't sure how much I knew about the era until I began doing this film," the Cleveland native commented about her role as family matriarch Mama Lucas."It does kinda remind me of things in my life that I can't ever forget [like] living in an apartment house on 135th street and 7th avenue that my mother had bought because it was a 'good address.' It was the center of a whole series of things that remained with me all my life."

Dee, born Ruby Ann Wallace, said she didn't personally know Lucas – who reportedly revolutionized how illegal drugs came into the black communities by transporting it from Asia in the caskets of military men – but remembers hearing of his largess.

"I knew that name, the aura and the flavor of the time," the sage recollected. "I knew the buildings where some of the gangsters lived because they were always in such good shape -- they had doormen, they had the best addresses ... they were sort of like the keepers of the black neighborhood.

"Although there was the murder and prostitution ... it was a time, with all of its contradictions, [that was] exciting."

For 'American Gangster,' Dee said working with Washington again was an anticipated delight.

"We did a Broadway show called 'Checkmates' together with Marcia Jackson and Paul Winfield ... I met him through my friend who ran a teaching something like an acting school and he was part of it and I remember her telling me about this young man that was coming to her sessions and being part of the productions she put on.

"When I saw him for the first time," she continued, "I was truly impressed with him as a young actor and through the years we've touched base. He's head of one of the important chapters in the Boys & Girls Club in Mt. Vernon and he and his wife are very sensitive and aware people.... So it's such an exciting prospect to be offered a job with somebody that you respect like that."

Dee will next star in the drama 'Steam.'