Ruby Dee (Ruth), the wife of veteran actor Ossie Davis, has received critical acclaim for her many stage performances and has appeared in numerous films, including Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Glynn Turman (Travis) has appeared in numerous Hollywood films and in the weekly television series A Different World, as the on-campus military presence.
Sidney Poitier (Walter Lee) has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, receiving an Academy Award for his performance in Lilies Of The Field, in 1963.
Diana Sands (Beneatha) continued her stellar performances in the legitimate theater until her untimely death at age 39 in 1973. Although she was not known as a Hollywood actress, Sands, just prior to her death, was scheduled for the female lead with James Earl Jones in the movie Claudine, a role that ultimately went to Diahann Carroll.
By the time Claudia McNeil (Mama) had been chosen as the matriarch of the Younger family in Raisin, she had already appeared in Langston Hughes' Simply Heavenly in 1957 and in Winesburg, Ohio in 1958. Avoiding Hollywood, she continued her work as a stage actress, where she remained a beacon for aspirants to the legitimate theater.
