It was only Tuesday when Gayle King was presenting his interview with pioneering acting legend Cicely Tyson for CBS This Morning viewers. So she was surprised when she learned, just two days later, that Tyson had died at age 96.
“When I got the news yesterday, when I got the call, I felt like someone had punched me in the chest,” said King ET on Friday. “You know, at 96 you can’t say that death is unexpected, but in this case, it was unexpected for me because I had seen it a week ago. She was so involved and so full of life and talking about things she still wanted to do, she said, ‘I still want to drive.’ She said in her book that it is better than staying at home leaving footprints, those were her words. She still felt she had other things she wanted to do and was looking forward to doing. “
The Emmy and Tony winning star spoke to King while promoting his memories, Just as I am, which was released that same day. Then, they talked about Tyson’s more than 60 years as an actress on stage and on TV and cinema, the challenges she faced along the way, especially as a black woman, and even her legacy. (When King asked Tyson what she wanted people to remember about her, she replied simply, “I did my best.”)
“I feel very grateful and happy to have spent time with her a week ago,” said King. “I feel at odds with the emotions I’m feeling right now, because how can you not smile when you think about Cicely Tyson? She was graceful, she was classy, she was essential, that was what Cicely Tyson was. I adored her and talked to her daughter last night and she was saying that she had seen our interview and that she really liked the interview. It made me feel, I must say, very well. “
King, who interviewed Tyson earlier, recalled that she was as elegant as ever.
“[She] he was sitting there talking to me wearing Manolo Blahnik pumps, ”said King. “She was dressed to measure, she was ready, she was sitting in the church, she was so proud and so happy and she wasn’t finished,” said King. “And I asked her, ‘Do you think about death?’ And she said, ‘Of course I think about death. I lost a lot of friends, but I feel that while you are still breathing, you have work to do ‘”.
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