Emmy and Tony winner actress Cicely Tyson, who stood out in the theater, film and television, died Thursday afternoon. She was 96 years old.
“I managed the career of Miss. Tyson for over 40 years and each year has been a privilege and a blessing, ”said his manager, Larry Thompson, in a statement. “Cicely thought of her new memories as a Christmas tree decorated with all the ornaments of her personal and professional life. Today she placed the last ornament, a star, on the top of the tree. “
Tyson made his film debut with a small role in 1957’s “Twelve Angry Men” and his formal debut in Sidney Poitier’s 1959 film “Odds Against Tomorrow”, followed by “The Comedians”, “The Last Angry Man”, ” A Man Called Adam ”and“ The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter ”. Refusing to participate in the blaxploitation films that became popular in the late 1960s, she waited until 1972 to return to the screen in the drama “Sounder”, which won several Oscar nominations, including one for Tyson as best actress.
Tyson received an Oscar nomination in 1973 for the drama “Sounder” by Martin Ritt and an honorary Oscar in 2018.
Variety critic AD Murphy said the film was “exceptional” and added: “The performances of Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson, as devoted parents, although poor, are milestones in their own careers.”
Despite her achievements on stage and in the movies, however, many of the actress’s best works were made for television. In addition to “Miss Jane Pittman”, she did an excellent job on “Roots”, “The Wilma Rudolph Story”, “King: The Martin Luther King Story”, “When No One Would Listen”, “A Woman Called Moses”, “The Marva Collins Story”, “The Women of Brewster Place”, “The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” and the TV adaptation of “Trip to Bountiful”.
Throughout her career, Tyson has refused to play drug addicts, prostitutes or domestic servants, roles she considered degrading to black women. But when a good portion appeared, she clung tenaciously.
On stage, she participated in the original 1961 Off Broadway production of Jean Genet’s “The Blacks” and, decades later, won a Tony for her lead role in a “The Trip to Bountiful” revival.
On television, she landed the first recurring role for a black woman in a dramatic series, “East Side / West Side”, and the actress later won two well-deserved Emmys for the memorable 1974 “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman”. nominated a total of 16 times in her career, also winning as a supporting actress in 1994 for an adaptation of “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All”; she was nominated five times as a guest actress in a drama for “How to Get Away With Murder”.
The actress became a household name thanks to her lead role in “Miss Jane Pittman”. The TV movie, in which a 110-year-old woman remembers her life, required her to portray the heroine over a period of nine decades. Writing about Tyson’s performance, Pauline Kael compared it “to the best, because this is the comparison that she invites and wins”.
She has also remained an occasional presence on the big screen in films such as “A hero is nothing but a sandwich”, Richard Pryor’s comedy “Bustin ‘loose”, “Fried green tomatoes” and “Hoodlum”.
Tyson returned to Broadway in 1983 to star in a brief rework of “The Corn Is Green”.
On television, she also appeared in the title role of “Mrs. Scrooge ”, an inverted gender adaptation by Charles Dickens, as well as telepics including“ Benny’s Place ”,“ Playing With Fire ”,“ Acceptable Risks ”,“ Heat Wave ”,“ Duplicates ”,“ A Lesson Before Dying ”and“ A Rosa Parks story. “
In 1994-95, she played a southern lawyer in NBC’s legal drama with a civil rights theme “Sweet Justice” and she appeared in a 2009 episode of “Law and Order: SVU”
In his 70s, Tyson worked more in film than at any other time in his career, thanks in part to Tyler Perry: She appeared in his films “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” (2005), “Madea’s Family Reunion (2006 ) and “Why did I get married too?” (2010), as well as in the 2012 Perry starring “Alex Cross”, which he did not direct. The actress also had supporting roles in “Because of Winn-Dixie”, “Fat Rose and Squeaky”, “Idlewild” and “The Help” of 2011.
And crowning an already impressive career, Tyson won Tony for best actress for his role as Carrie Watts in the 2013 revival of “A Trip to Bountiful”, then repeated the performance in a 2014 TV adaptation.
Born in East Harlem, the son of immigrant West Indian parents, Tyson was born from humble beginnings. After graduating from high school, she worked as an American Red Cross secretary before becoming a model; at the top of her game, she appeared in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. She studied at Actors Studio and with Lloyd Richards and Vinnette Carroll, who played Tyson as Barbara Allen in a 1959 Off Broadway reassembly of the musical “The Dark of the Moon”. She went on to the Broadway variety show “Talent ’59” and appeared in a production of “Jolly’s Progress” in which she also underestimated Eartha Kitt, before a role in “The Blacks” started her career on stage.
In 1961, Tyson was a member of the original cast of “The Blacks”, which operated for two years at St. Mark’s Playhouse. His co-stars include Roscoe Lee Browne, James Earl Jones, Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques. Virtue’s role earned her the Vernon Rice Award, a feat she repeated in the 1962 production of “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl”. She starred with Diana Sands in the 1963 Broadway production of “Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright”, which closed during a newspaper strike, and later that year appeared on Broadway in “The Blue Boy in Black” with Billy Dee Williams. She moved on to Carroll’s musical “Trumpets of the Lord” (she also appeared in the 1968 Broadway play), as well as the 1966 production of “A Hand Is at the Gate”, the 1968 play “Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights “and Lorraine Hansberry’s 1969 program read” To Be Young, Gifted and Black “.
Tyson was also one of the founding members of the Dance Theater of Harlem in 1969.
Interspersed with his stage performances, Tyson appeared on a number of television shows, including a dramatic performance of “Brown Girl, Brown Stones” in 1960 and “Between Yesterday and Today”. George C. Scott, “East Side / West Side” star, was impressed by her performance in “The Blacks” and asked her to play the part of her assistant in the 1963 CBS series. Although the show lasted only 26 episodes, it increased its visibility, and she followed with appearances on shows like “Naked City”, “The Nurses”, “I Spy”, “Slattery’s People” and “The Bill Cosby Show”.
Tyson was active in charities and arts organizations, including Urban Gateways, the Human Family Institute and the American Film Institute. She received awards from the National Council of Black Women and the NAACP, as well as the Capitol Press Award.
The actress was one of 25 black women honored for her contributions to art, entertainment and civil rights as part of Oprah Winfrey’s Ball of Legends in 2005.
Tyson remained aggressive even when she reached 90. She criticized a remake of “Roots” as unnecessary and, in a speech at Grace Awards, where Tyson received an award for the work of the Alliance for Women in Media in May 2015, the actress she told when asked: “Now that you have achieved, what else are you going to do?”, to which she replied: “’My dear, the day I feel I have achieved, I am finished.’ ‘
Tyson was married to the great jazz Miles Davis from 1981 to 1988.
Survivors include his niece, British actress Cathy Tyson.