(1989) Do the Right Thing

as Mother Sister

(1991) Jungle Fever

as Lucinda Purify

(2007) American Gangster

as Mama Lucas

(2009) America

as Mrs. Harper

(1982) Cat People

as Female

(1990) Love at Large

as Corrine Dart

(1991) Jazztime Tale

as Narrator (voice)

(1995) Just Cause

as Evangeline Ferguson

(1993) Cop & ½

as Rachel

(1972) Buck and the Preacher

as Ruth

(2006) No. 2

as Nanna Maria

(1951) The Tall Target

as Rachel

(1957) Edge of the City

as Lucy Tyler

(1961) A Raisin in the Sun

as Ruth Younger

(1950) The Jackie Robinson Story

as Rae Robinson

(1967) The Incident

as Joan Robinson

(1997) A Simple Wish

as Hortence

(2003) Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

as ---

(2005) Their Eyes Were Watching God

as Nanny

(2011) Politics of Love

as ---

(2001) Feast of All Saints

as Elsie Claviere

(1972) Black Girl

as Netta's mother

(2011) Video Girl

as Valerie

(1990) Decoration Day

as Rowena

(1968) Uptight

as Laurie

(2000) Finding Buck McHenry

as Mrs. Henry

(1996) Mr. and Mrs. Loving

as Sophia

(1974) It's Good to Be Alive

as Ruth Campanella

(2000) A Storm in Summer

as Grandmother

(2013) Long Distance Revolutionary: A Journey with Mumia Abu-Jamal

as Self

(2013) Betty and Coretta

as Narrator

(2007) Steam

as Doris

(1979) I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

as Grandmother Baxter

(1959) Virgin Island

as Ruth

(1959) Take a Giant Step

as Christine

(1995) Tuesday Morning Ride

as Jennie

(1963) Gone Are the Days!

as Lutiebelle Gussie Mae Jenkins

(1993) After Goodbye

as Narrator

(1997) Sports on the Silver Screen

as Self (archive footage)

(1946) That Man of Mine

as Joan

(1969) Deadlock

as Lucinda

(1982) Long Day's Journey Into Night

as Mary Tyrone

(2009) A Place Out of Time: The Bordentown School

as Narrator (voice)

(1999) Passing Glory

as Mommit Porter

(1998) The Wall

as Mrs. Mitchell (segment "The Badge")

(1976) Countdown at Kusini

as Leah Matanzima

(1994) Whitewash

as Grandmother (voice)

(2001) Taking Back Our Town

as Emelda West

(1990) The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson

as Jackie's Mother

(1998) A Time To Dance: The Life and Work of Norma Canner

as Narrator

(1999) Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years

as Annie Elizabeth 'Bessie' Delany

(1966) Neighbours

as Vicky Kingsbury

(1950) No Way Out

as Connie Brooks (uncredited)

(1996) Captive Heart: The James Mink Story

as Indigo

(1970) King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

as Self (archive footage)

(1946) Love in Syncopation

as ---

(1948) The Fight Never Ends

as ---

(1948) What a Guy

as ---

(1974) Wedding Band

as Julia Augustine

(2011) The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll

as Miss Candy

(1989) Making 'Do the Right Thing'

as Self

(2007) In the Shadow of Hollywood: Race Movies and the Birth of Black Cinema

as Herself

(1980) All God's Children

as Irene Whitfield

(1985) Go Tell It on the Mountain

as Mrs. Grimes

(2004) Beah: A Black Woman Speaks

as Self

(1993) The Ernest Green Story

as Lydia Wilson

(2012) A Thousand Words

as Annie McCall

(1990) Zora is My Name!

as Zora Neale Hurston

(2004) TV in Black: The First Fifty Years

as (archive footage)

(1958) St. Louis Blues

as Elizabeth

(1963) The Balcony

as Thief

(2002) Theater Talk: 'A Raisin in the Sun'

as Self

(1992) Color Adjustment

as Narrator

(1954) Go Man Go

as Irma Jackson

(2006) Discovering William Greaves

as Self

(1999) Baby Geniuses

as Margo

(2018) Poitier's Walter Lee

as Self (archive footage)

(1972) To Be Young, Gifted and Black

as Lorraine Hansberry and other assorted characters

(1971) The Sheriff

as Sue Ann Lucas

(2014) Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee

as Self

(1972) On Merit

as Narrator (voice)

(1999) The Unfinished Journey

as Narrator (voice)

(2007) Our Paul: Remembering Paul Robeson

as Self

(1999) Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

as Self

(1980) The Torture of Mothers: The Case of the Harlem Six

as ---

(2007) All About Us

as Ms. Ella

(1947) Easy to Get

as Drugstore Girl

(1998) Small Steps, Big Strides: The Black Experience in Hollywood

as Self

(1994) The Stand

as Mother Abagail Freemantle

(2000) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

as Mary Wilson

(1985) Spenser: For Hire

as ---

(1963) The Great Adventure

as Harriet Tubman

(1985) The Golden Girls

as Mammy Watkins

(1988) China Beach

as ---

(1999) Little Bill

as ---

(1951) Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Rowena Finch

(1994) The Stand

as Mother Abagail Freemantle

(1974) Police Woman

as ---

(1963) The Fugitive

as Laura Smith

(1979) Roots: The Next Generations

as Queen Victoria Haley

(2005) Iconoclasts

as Self

(1992) Middle Ages

as Estelle Williams

(1961) The Defenders

as Catherine Collins

(1978) The Kennedy Center Honors

as Self

(1988) Lincoln

as Elizabeth Keckley

(1983) Reading Rainbow

as Herself - Narrator (voice)

(1988) American Experience

as Narrator (voice)

(1998) Christianity: The First 1000 Years

as Herself - Narrator

(1985) The Atlanta Child Murders

as Faye Williams

(1995) Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

as Grandma (voice)

(1968) The Dick Cavett Show

as Self - Guest

(2002) Christianity: The First Two Thousand Years

as Narrator

(1994) Touched by an Angel

as LaBelle Springbelt

(1971) Great Performances

as Self