The Oscar nominee, Emmy winner and Tony was 96 years old

Legendary and celebrated performer Cicely Tyson, who made her way in a Hollywood era especially hostile to black actresses, died Thursday, just two days after releasing her memoirs at age 96.

“With a heavy heart, Miss Cicely Tyson’s family announces their peaceful transition this afternoon,” said her manager, Larry Thompson, in a statement to Yahoo Entertainment. “Right now, allow the family to have privacy.”

Thompson said he has managed Tyson for over 40 years, and that his book, Just as I am, had great significance for her.

“Each year has been a privilege and a blessing,” he said. “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 spent more than 60 years as a theater, TV and film star, having played roles in early TV Guide light and I spy. In 1973, she was nominated for an Oscar for best actress for her role in Probe, a film about black sharecroppers in Louisiana in the 1930s. She did not win at the time, but received an honorary award at the 2019 ceremony for her work in Fried green tomatoes, Diary of a crazy black woman, The help and countless other films.

On TV, Tyson won praise for his performance Miss Jane Pittman’s autobiography, The oldest living Confederate widow tells everything, Roots, the women of Brewster Place and dozens of other TV shows and movies. She spent the last six years as a guest actress in the ABC drama How to escape murder, for which she won five nods at the Primetime Emmy.

Born in Harlem, the daughter of immigrants from the West Indies, Tyson began her career as a model and earned her first TV credit in an episode of Frontiers of Faith in 1951.

“I was going up Fifth Avenue. I would spend my lunch break, actually, at Lord & Taylor, ”Tyson explained to NPR while promoting his book. “That was my favorite store. And I went there whenever I finished my lunch and examined what they had. And someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked for my agency. And I asked, ‘What agency?’ They said, ‘Aren’t you a model?’ I said no. And they said, ‘Well, you should be.’ And I said, ‘Well, how do you do that?’ They said, ‘Well, you enroll in a modeling school and then get your certificate if you’re good enough.’ And then I started to distribute my photos among the agencies. And then I started getting calls and that’s how it started. “

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In a separate interview with NPR, she said Probe it was the film that led her to choose films that told the story of African American women. It happened during the promotion of Probe, when a white reporter told her that he was surprised to learn that black children called their parents father and mother too.

“He couldn’t compare the fact that this man was on a par with him,” said Tyson. “And really, I admired him for standing up in an audience and saying that, and I thought to myself, ‘Cicely, you really can’t afford to be just an actress.'”

She won a Tony award for her work in reviving the 2013 stage version The trip to Bountiful, when she was 88 years old.

In 2016, Tyson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor for a civilian. As President Barack Obama put it, he said, “In her long and extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson not only succeeded as an actress, she shaped the course of history.”

Here are some of the memories that his many famous friends and fans sent on social media:

Read more on Yahoo Entertainment:

Originally published January 28, 2021, 18:44