Paying Homage to an Icon - Cicely Tyson

"Cicely Tyson chose to empower us when we didn't even know it was possible for us to be empowered. For six decades, she has been diligent in her pursuit to better us all."  - Tyler Perry

Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” has died. She was 96.

Words cannot explain what this woman meant to so many. Her performances were powerful and enchanting.

She played former slaves, civil rights icons, sharecroppers, truthtellers, mothers and other complicated women -- bringing a sense of depth, nobility and grace to every character.

Tyson recently chronicled her lengthy career in her first memoir, "Just As I Am," which was just released Tuesday.

Her filmography includes some of the most celebrated movies and television shows featuring Black women in major roles: "Sounder" (1972), "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" (1974), "Roots" (1977), "The Marva Collins Story" (1981), "The Women of Brewster Place" (1989), and "The Help" (2011).

She has been quoted as saying,

"I think when you begin to think of yourself as having achieved something, then there's nothing left for you to work towards. I want to believe that there is a mountain so high that I will spend my entire life striving to reach the top of it."

Well Miss Tyson, you have moved mountains for so many young black actresses. You have paved the way and reached heights very few  will ever reach.

Rest in power.

Pioneer • Legend • Icon • Visionary • Queen

Bio:

Tyson was born December 19, 1924, in New York to William and Theodosia Tyson. Early on, she gravitated toward performing, playing piano and reciting in her family's church when she was a child. She later attended New York University.

Tyson began her entertainment career as a model when she was discovered by a fashion editor at Ebony magazine in the 1950s. She had substantial theater parts in the early part of the decade and was on television regularly in guest-starring roles by the mid-1960s.

It wasn't until "Sounder" in 1972 that she had her big breakout movie role. She portrayed the family matriarch in the film about Depression-era sharecroppers and their hunting dog, based on a William H. Armstrong novel.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for her work in the film -- her only Oscar nomination. It would be another 45 years before she took home the golden statue when she received an honorary Oscar in 2018, the only Black woman to do so.

In 1974, she starred in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," a television movie based on a novel by Ernest Gaines. Tyson was the title character, a woman born into slavery who lives well into the 20th century and takes part in African Americans' struggles for civil rights.

She won two Emmys for the role -- best actress in a drama and actress of the year. During her career, she would win a total of three Emmy Awards out of 15 nominations.

Her filmography includes some of the most celebrated movies and television shows featuring Black women in major roles: "Sounder" (1972), "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" (1974), "Roots" (1977), "The Marva Collins Story" (1981), "The Women of Brewster Place" (1989), and "The Help" (2011).