Cicely Tyson, a legendary film, television, and stage actress known for "Sounder" and other roles, died Thursday, January 28, 2021, at the age of 96, her family said. "With heavy heart, the family of Miss Cicely Tyson announces her peaceful transition this afternoon," her manager, Larry Thompson, said in a statement. "At this time, please allow the family their privacy." A cause of death was not immediately given.
Pioneering Hollywood actress Cicely Tyson - who was known for portraying strong African-American characters - has died aged 96, her manager has said. No cause of the death was given. Thompson, Tyson's manager, said he managed her career for four decades and "and each year was a privilege and blessing."
Cicely Louise "Cicely" Tyson (December 19, 1924 - January 28, 2021) was an American actress. In a career spanning seven decades, she portrayed complex and strong-willed African American women. She received several awards including three Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award.
Tyson's memoir, "Just as I Am: A Memoir," came out this week. "Cicely thought of her new memoir as a Christmas tree decorated with all the ornaments of her personal and professional life," Thompson said. "Today she placed the last ornament, a Star, on top of the tree."
Tyson was born and raised in Harlem and was first discovered as a model for Ebony Magazine. After being discovered by a fashion editor at Ebony magazine her modelling career took off. By 1957, she was acting in off-Broadway productions and went on to gain small roles in feature films before she was cast as Portia in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter in 1968. She began her screen career with bit parts but gained fame in the early 1970s when Black women were finally starting to get starring roles.
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Tyson starred as Rebecca Morgan, a sharecropper in the 1972 film "Sounder" and was nominated for best actress at the Academy Awards the next year.
In 1972, Tyson played the role of Rebecca Morgan in the film Sounder. She was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her work in Sounder, and also won the NSFC Best Actress and NBR Best Actress Awards. Critic Roger Ebert wrote of her performance, "The mother is played by Cicely Tyson, and it is a wonder to see the subtleties in her performance. We have seen her with her family, and we know her strength and intelligence. Then we see her dealing with the white power structure, and her behavior toward it is in a style born of cynicism and necessity.
Accolades and Achievements
Tyson also won two Emmy awards for "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," and in 2013 she won a Tony Award for "The Trip to Bountiful."
In 1974, Tyson played the title role in the CBS television film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Tyson's portrayal of a centenarian black woman's life from slavery until her death before the Civil rights movement won her Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie and Actress of the Year - Special. Tyson was also nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her work in this television film. Nikki Giovanni of The New York Times wrote of her performance, "If Cicely Tyson isn't one of the best actresses on screen, then "grits ain't groceries, eggs ain't poultry, and Mona Lisa was a man," adding, "Miss Tyson never stepped out of character.
The Tony Awards also nominated her in 2013 for lead actress for the play The Trip to Bountiful, about an unhappy, elderly woman desperate to visit her girlhood home before she dies.
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At the 67th Tony Awards, on June 9, 2013, Tyson won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Miss Carrie Watts in the Broadway revival of the Horton Foote play The Trip to Bountiful.
In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Tyson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, and the year before that she received the Kennedy Center Honors lifetime achievement award.
Presenting Tyson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, the then US President Barack Obama said that apart from her achievements as an actress, she had also shaped the course of history.
Obama in presenting Tyson the medal of freedom in 2016 said she shaped the course of history. "Cicely made a conscious decision not just to say lines but to speak out," Obama said. "I would not accept roles, she said, unless they projected us, particularly women, in a realistic light and dealt with us as human beings."
A look back at the life of iconic actress Cicely Tyson
One of 12 soundstages was named after Tyson in her honor at Tyler Perry Studios.
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Awards and Honors:
- Primetime Emmy Awards: Won three times for her work in television, including The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) and Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (1994).
- Tony Award: Won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in The Trip to Bountiful in 2014.
- Honorary Academy Award: Received in 2018 "Whose unforgettable performances and personal integrity have inspired generations of filmmakers, actors and audiences."
- Kennedy Center Honors: Recognized in 2015.
- Presidential Medal of Freedom: Awarded by President Barack Obama in 2016.
Tributes and Legacy
Tributes to Tyson hailed her as someone who paved the way for others. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center said, "Trailblazer is not a sufficient description," calling Tyson "a legendary artist, sage and matriarch."
The rapper and actor Common tweeted, "While she may be gone, her work and life will continue to inspire millions for years to come," and the astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson called her "a force of nature unto herself."
Broadway star Tracie Thoms thanked Tyson: "I have no words. Just thank you, Madame Cicely Tyson. We are, because YOU paved the way for us."
After paying tribute, US broadcaster and actress Oprah Winfrey said: "She used her career to illuminate the humanity of black people. The roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised."
Michelle Obama added she would "miss her dearly", saying: "I smile knowing how many people she inspired, just like me, to walk a little taller, speak a little more freely, and live a little bit more like God intended."
Oscar-winning actress Davis said Tyson had "made me feel loved and seen and valued in a world where there is still a cloak of invisibility for us dark chocolate girls".
TV producer Shonda Rhimes, whose shows include How to Get Away with Murder and Bridgerton, paid tribute to "an extraordinary person", and said "her power and grace will be with us forever", while actress and presenter Whoopi Goldberg praised "a tower of power, a pillar of strength, CLEAR about who she was, and how she was to be treated... and that never wavered".
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, whose films include Selma, the documentary 13th and TV drama When They See Us, remembered Tyson's warm embrace, saying: "Your hugs I'll remember. How your petite arms wrapped around me like mighty branches of a sunlit tree, strong and warm. Your love I'll remember. You loved me for some reason and told me often."
Singer Mariah Carey called the actress "a queen who graced the world with her beauty, strength and talent" while actress Jada Pinkett Smith simply called Tyson a "legend"
Singer Rihanna added her voice by calling Tyson "a true legend" and Euphoria star Zendaya tweeted that "this one hurts, today we honour and celebrate the life of one of the greatest to ever do it. Thank you Cicely Tyson. Rest in great power".
Kerry Washington, the actress, producer and director, paid tribute by saying: "Thank you for blessing us and for lighting way. I miss you already. So so much." Bryce Dallas Howard, who was in The Help, called Tyson a "pioneer and enlightened genius", adding: "To have been in her presence was a privilege. Thank you for your light, leadership, and legacy."