Cicely Tyson, the honorary Oscar winner pioneer who starred Probe and Miss Jane Pittman’s autobiography and won five Emmy nominations for his recurring role in How to escape murder, died today. She was 96 years old.
His manager, Larry Thompson, confirmed the news for not providing details of his death.
“I managed the career of Miss. Tyson for over 40 years and each year has been a privilege and a blessing, ”said 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. “
HarperCollins published Tyson’s memoirs, Just as I am, earlier this week.
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Tyson accumulated 16 Emmy nominations in his career and won three, including two in 1974 for his legendary participation in Miss Jane Pittman’s autobiography, in which she played a southern woman who was born into slavery and lives to join the civil rights movement. She was the first black woman to win an Emmy for Lead Actress.
That role came two years after Tyson’s powerful performance in Problems, about a family of sharecroppers from the Depression era facing a major crisis. She received an Oscar nomination for performance, but lost to Liza Minnelli by Cabaret.
Tyson received his third Emmy for The oldest living Confederate widow tells everything (1994) and was also indicated for his performances in Roots, King, Sweet Justice, The Marva Collins Story and A lesson before I die.
During an iconic 70-year career, Tyson appeared in dozens of films, TV series and telefilms and on Broadway. She may be best known to the younger audience for her role in Shonda Rhimes’ ABC drama How to escape murder, in which she reappeared as Ophelia Harkness, the mother of the main character Annalize Harkness (Viola Davis).
She also participated in Ava DuVernay’s OWN series Value the day, playing Miss Luma Lee Langston – a legendary stage and screen star for the past few decades – in all eight episodes of the drama’s freshman 2020 season.
Tyson was also a pioneer in Hollywood. She was one of the few black faces in the mainstream for many years – starting as a model and becoming one of the few blacks to work on major publications.
She was committed to presenting only positive images of black women, and this stance probably cost her some work in film and television. Still, her work was widely recognized, and she was honored by the Congress on Racial Equality, the NAACP – she won eight image awards and 15 nominees – and the National Council of Black Women. In 1977, she was included in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.
In 2016, President Barack Obama presented Tyson with the country’s largest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his contribution to American arts and culture. She was nominated for the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2019.
Bruce Haring contributed to this report.
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