Ruby Dee to Receive Chairman's Award at NAACP Image Awards

Ruby Dee" border="0" height="375" hspace="10" src="https://cloudimages.broadwayworld.com/upload/13534/New%20Folder%203/j32.jpg" title="Ruby Dee " vspace="10" width="250"/>It was recently announced that stage/screen actress Ruby Dee will receive the Chairman's Award at the 39th Annual NAACP Image Awards, which will be bestowed on Thursday, February 14 in Los Angeles and broadcast on FOX Television, according to Variety.

Dee is nominated this year for her work in American Gangster, which has also earned her the Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She has appeared in numerous plays, including A Raisin in the Sun.

Performers receiving double nominations for Image Awards include Denzel Washington for both acting in and directing The Great Debaters, which received a total of eight nominations; Queen Latifah, for her work in Hairpsray and the TV film "Life Support;" and S. Epatha Merkerson, for her work in the TV series "Law & Order" and the TV film "Girl Positive." Other nominees include Terrence Howard (Pride), Anika Noni Rose (The Starter's Wife), Chiewtel Eijofor and Don Cheadle (Talk to Me), Loretta Devine (This Christmas), Taye Diggs (Private Practice), Audra McDonald (Private Practice), Chandra Wilson (Grey's Anatomy), Dule Hill (Psych), Vanessa Williams ("Ugly Betty"), Jesse L. Martin ("Law & Order"), Jimmy Smits ("Cane"), and Daniel Sunjata ("The Bronx Is Burning"). Special awards will also go to singers Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder.

Presented annually, the NAACP Image Awards is the nation's premier event celebrating the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color in the arts as well as those individuals or groups who promote social justice.

The NAACP Image Awards are an exciting, star-studded salute to the best in entertainment. Honorees, presenters and performers have included many of the major celebrities in America as well as international political figures and dignitaries. There are 36 competitive categories in the fields of motion picture, television, music and literature. There are also several honorary awards including the Chairman's Award, The President's Award and The Image Awards Hall of Fame. 

Photo of Ruby Dee by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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