With Ossie and Ruby

In This Life Together

By: Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee

Narrated by: Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee are legendary stars of the American stage, television, and film, cherished not merely for their gifts as actors but also for their lifelong commitment to human rights, family values, and community. Now, in a joint memoir that celebrates half a century of successful marriage, they look back on the extraordinary careers that earned each a Presidential Medal for Lifetime Achievement in the Arts. With Ossie and Ruby overflows with consummate storytelling skill, but it's much more than a wonderfully engaging self-portrait. For as they reminisce in alternating chapters, Ossie and Ruby offer a vivid picture of the 20th-century African-American experience, both in the rural South and the urban North.

For Ossie and Ruby, stardom and social responsibility were inseparable, so along with their theatrical stories of Broadway and Hollywood, where Black actors fought to escape racial stereotypes, they offer an insider's chronicle of political commitment that drew the wrath of Senator Joe McCarthy and, later, the friendship of both Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X. And, perhaps most important to them, here is the story of their private lives and the family whose love and security more than repaid the sacrifices they made.

Often funny, occasionally heartbreaking, and always clear-eyed and candid about themselves and the world they helped to shape, Ossie and Ruby have recorded a book sure to win the heart of anyone who cares about American theater, the struggle for civil rights, and the deep, inspiring values that have guided the lives of two great artists who blazed a triumphant trail.

For the first time ever, experience this archival tour de force recording.

©1998 Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. All rights reserved.; (P)2006 Time Warner AudioBooks

Critic reviews

• Grammy Award Winner, Best Spoken Word Album, 2006

"This is a compelling read, effectively evoking the challenges and rewards that have attended the authors' roles as black leaders over the past 60 years." (Publishers Weekly)

This was a visit to my grandparents house

This was a visit to my grandparents house hearing a story I didn’t even have to ask to hear. I loved every second!

They are Royalty

This is a rare treat and spans from the Depression to a period when Spike Lee directed the two of them in films. It is a treasure and a pleasure to hear the real voices of these great actors.

A love story

An amazing love story and an incredible history lesson for everyone
They have left us homework we need and must complete

Enjoyable Listening and Learning

There is so much for young and old to learn from "With Ossie and Ruby" about personal character, history, race relations, marriage, and the entertainment industry. Listening was thoroughly delightful because of the extraordinary vocal performances of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee telling their own life stories.

Let The Circle Continue

As I was reading my hardback version, I felt it would be great if I could hear the words via Ossie and Ruby.
Both are keepers and highly recommended.

Nice touch...

I have always admired these two people and was glad to find something from them on Audible.One never hears anything about them in the media and you kind of have to hunt down anything about them.I liked how both of them told their story together.I did get a little lost during the part about Ruby's first miscarriage,but chalked it up to the times of that era.My favorite part was when they spoke of marriage and staying together for a long time.Truly words to live by,with practice!

They were a committed couple in stage and life from the very beginning ‼️

They seriously understood and grew into their roles as husband and wife as well as actress and actor, parents and activists !

Thoroughly Captivating And Engrossing

This candidly written autobiography, read by two of the most dynamic and politically engaged theatre talents of our time, is so interesting, so entertainingly read, that you can't put it down. The chapters are alternately read by each actor, first describing their individual childhoods, family circumstances, education, and early work in the theatre, and later, providing alternate perspectives on events throughout the course of their married life and groundbreaking careers. And what remarkable lives they had! What talents! Each volume of "With Ossie And Ruby" invites you into a captivating, insightful conversation between these incomparable long-time, intimate friends, leaving you amazed and eager to hear more.

Informative, Educational and Delightful!

Loved Every Minute! listening to Ruby Dee and Ozzie was like listening to a good movie. Well done, I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook like no other.

If I could have met you and had a cup of coffee together.

This was like getting to know on a deeper level due to the generation the grandfathers I never met or grandmothers that never talked. Mr Ossie and Mrs. Ruby voices were like a warm hug as I listen them on my way to work, on my lunch break and driving home from work. I gave me something to look forward to like upcoming trip to a place you’ve been. I love them and didn’t get see them in a play however introduced to them via television and the movies. I’m trying to find everything I can on them....another sweet piece of Our history.