(Ruby Dee by Carl Van Vechten)

CNN reports that actress and civil rights icon Ruby Dee has passed away. According a family representative, she died peacefully at her home in New Rochelle, New York on Wednesday.

Ruby Dee was a gifted performance artist with a career spanning over 70 years. Her film credits included “A Raisin in the Sun” (1961), “Do the Right Thing” (1989), and “American Gangster” (2007). Broadway star Audra McDonald cited Dee as an inspiration that made her career possible when accepting her Tony award this past weekend.

Ruby Dee is survived by three children, Guy Davis, Hasna Muhammad Davis and Nora Day Davis.