Emmy- and Tony-winning actress Cicely Tyson, who distinguished herself in theater, film and television, died on Thursday afternoon. She was 96.
âI have managed Miss Tysonâs career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing,â her manager, Larry Thompson, said in a statement. âCicely thought of her new memoir as a Christmas tree decorated with all the ornaments of her personal and professional life. Today she placed the last ornament, a Star, on top of the tree.â
Throughout her career Tyson refused to play drug addicts, prostitutes or maids, roles she thought demeaning to Black women. But when a good part came along she grabbed hold of it with tenacity.
Onstage she was in the original 1961 Off Broadway production of Jean Genetâs âThe Blacksâ and, decades later, she won a Tony for her starring role in a revival of âThe Trip to Bountiful.â
In television she nabbed the first recurring role for an Black woman in a drama series, âEast Side/West Side,â and the actress later won two much-deserved Emmys for 1974âs memorable âThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.â She was nominated a total of 16 times in her career, also winning for supporting actress, in 1994 for an adaptation of âOldest Living Confederate Widow Tells Allâ; she was nominated five times for guest actress in a drama for âHow to Get Away With Murder.â
Tyson received an Oscar nomination in 1973 for Martin Rittâs drama âSounderâ and an Honorary Oscar in 2018.
The actress became a household name thanks to her starring role in âMiss Jane Pittman.â The TV movie, in which a 110-year-old woman recalls her life, required her to portray the heroine over a nine-decade period. Writing about Tysonâs performance, Pauline Kael compared her âto the highest, because thatâs the comparison she invites and has earned.â
In 1961 Tyson was one of the original cast members in âThe Blacks,â which ran for two years at the St. Markâs Playhouse. Her co-stars included Roscoe Lee Browne, James Earl Jones, Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques. The role of Virtue won her the Vernon Rice Award, a feat she repeated for the 1962 production of âMoon on a Rainbow Shawl.â She starred with Diana Sands in the 1963 Broadway production of âTiger, Tiger Burning Bright,â which closed during a newspaper strike, and later that year appeared Off Broadway in âThe Blue Boy in Blackâ with Billy Dee Williams. She moved on to Carrollâs musical âTrumpets of the Lordâ (she also appeared in the 1968 Broadway staging) as well as the 1966 production of âA Hand Is at the Gate,â the 1968 play âCarry Me Back to Morningside Heightsâ and the 1969 program of Lorraine Hansberry readings âTo Be Young, Gifted and Black.â
Tyson was also one of the founding members of the Dance Theater of Harlem in 1969.
Interspersed with her stage gigs, Tyson appeared in a number of television shows, including a dramatic presentation of âBrown Girl, Brown Stonesâ in 1960 and âBetween Yesterday and Today.â âEast Side/West Sideâ star George C. Scott, having been impressed by her performance in âThe Blacks,â asked for her to play his assistant in the 1963 CBS series. Though the show lasted only 26 episodes, it increased her visibility, and she followed it with appearances on shows including âNaked City,â âThe Nurses,â âI Spy,â âSlatteryâs Peopleâ and âThe Bill Cosby Show.â
During this period she curtailed her work schedule to devote more time to her relationship with jazz great Miles Davis.
Tyson made her film debut with a small role in 1957âs âTwelve Angry Menâ and her formal debut in the 1959 Sidney Poitier film âOdds Against Tomorrow,â followed by âThe Comedians,â âThe Last Angry Man,â âA Man Called Adamâ and âThe Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.â Refusing to participate in the blaxploitation movies that became popular in the late â60s, she waited until 1972 to return to the screen in the drama âSounder,â which captured several Oscar nominations including one for Tyson as best actress.
Variety reviewer A.D. Murphy enthused that the film was âoutstandingâ and added, âThe performances of Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson, as the devoted though impoverished parents, are milestones in their own careers.â
Despite her achievements onstage and in films, however, most of the actressâs best work was done for television. In addition to âMiss Jane Pittman,â she did outstanding work in âRoots,â âThe Wilma Rudolph Story,â âKing: The Martin Luther King Story,â âWhen No One Would Listen,â âA Woman Called Moses,â âThe Marva Collins Story,â âThe Women of Brewster Place,â âThe Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells Allâ and the TV adaptation of âTrip to Bountiful.â
She remained an occasional presence on the big screen as well in films including âA Hero Ainât Nothinâ But a Sandwich,â Richard Pryor comedy âBustinâ Loose,â âFried Green Tomatoesâ and âHoodlum.â
Tyson returned to Broadway in 1983 to star in a brief revival of âThe Corn Is Green.â
On television she also appeared in the title role of âMs. Scrooge,â a gender-reversed adaptation of Charles Dickens, as well as telepics including âBennyâs Place,â âPlaying With Fire,â âAcceptable Risks,â âHeat Wave,â âDuplicates,â âA Lesson Before Dyingâ and âThe Rosa Parks Story.â
In 1994-95 she played a Southern attorney in NBCâs brief, civil rights-themed legal drama âSweet Justice,â and she appeared in a 2009 episode of âLaw and Order: SVU.â
In her 70s, Tyson worked more in film than at any other time in her career, thanks in part to Tyler Perry: She appeared in his films âDiary of a Mad Black Womanâ (2005), âMadeaâs Family Reunion (2006) and âWhy Did I Get Married Too?â (2010) as well as in the 2012 Perry starrer âAlex Cross,â which he did not direct. The actress also had supporting roles in âBecause of Winn-Dixie,â âFat Rose and Squeaky,â âIdlewildâ and 2011âs âThe Help.â
And capping an already-impressive career, Tyson won the Tony for best actress for her role as Carrie Watts in the 2013 revival of âA Trip to Bountiful,â then repeated the performance in a 2014 Lifetime TV adaptation.
Born in East Harlem to West Indian immigrant parents, Tyson rose from humble beginnings. After graduating from high school she worked as a secretary for the American Red Cross before becoming a model; at the top of her game she appeared in Vogue and Harperâs Bazaar. She was bitten by the acting bug after an appearance in an aborted independent film, âThe Spectrum.â She studied at the Actors Studio and with Lloyd Richards and Vinnette Carroll, who featured Tyson as Barbara Allen in a 1959 Off Broadway revival of the musical âThe Dark of the Moon.â She segued into the variety show âTalent â59â on Broadway and appeared in a production of âJollyâs Progressâ in which she also understudied Eartha Kitt, before a role in âThe Blacksâ ignited her stage career.
Tyson was active in charity and arts organizations including Urban Gateways, the Human Family Institute and the American Film Institute. She received awards from the National Council of Negro Women and the NAACP as well as the Capitol Press Award.
The actress was one of 25 Black women honored for their contributions to art, entertainment and civil rights as part of Oprah Winfreyâs 2005 Legends Ball.
Tyson remained feisty even as she reached 90. She criticized an upcoming remake of âRootsâ as unnecessary and, in a speech at the Grace Awards, where Tyson received a lifetime achievement award from the Alliance for Women in Media in May 2015, the actress recounted being asked, âNow that you have made it, what else are you going to do?,â to which she responded, ââMy dear, the day I feel that I have made it, I am finished.ââ
Tyson was married to Davis from 1981-88.
Survivors include her niece, English actress Cathy Tyson.
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