Groundbreaking actor Cicely Tyson dies at 96

The world lost a titan of talent, strength and leadership this Thursday with news of the passing of the renowned Hollywood icon Cicely Tyson. The trailblazer was 96 and days before her death had released her memoir Just As I Am. 

“I have managed Miss Tyson’s career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing,” her manager, Larry Thompson, said in a statement. “Cicely 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.”

The book dropped just days ago, on January 26, and Tyson was sharing her wisdom in TV appearances for it right up until she passed away—sitting down with Gayle King this week to speak about her impressive career and personal life. 

“Just As I Am is my truth. It is me, plain and unvarnished, with the glitter and garland set aside,” Tyson wrote about her book. “In these pages, I am indeed Cicely, the actress who has been blessed to grace the stage and screen for six decades. Yet I am also the church girl who once rarely spoke a word. I am the teenager who sought solace in the verses of the old hymn for which this book is named. I am a daughter and mother, a sister, and a friend. I am an observer of human nature and the dreamer of audacious dreams. I am a woman who has hurt as immeasurably as I have loved, a child of God divinely guided by His hand. And here in my ninth decade, I am a woman who, at long last, has something meaningful to say.”

Tyson had an impressive career that spanned TV, film and stage and paved the way for Black women in the industry. Her first major role was alongside Harry Belafonte in the 1959 film Odds Against Tomorrow, which she followed up with a string of equally notable gigs.

As per Variety, when “Blaxploitation” movies (films that received criticism for showing negative stereotypical depictions of Black people) grew in popularity in the 1960s Tyson turned down many parts, refusing to partake in those kinds of projects. When she returned to the big screen in 1972 with Sounder, it was to an Oscar nomination. (She didn’t win, but in 2019 she was awarded an honorary Academy Award.) The publication also notes that throughout her career, Tyson also refused to take any roles that she felt were demeaning to Black women, including drug addicts, prostitutes or maids. 

In 1974, Tyson brought home two Emmys for her leading role in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. She would be nominated 14 more times for projects like Roots, Sweet Justice, and A Lesson Before Dying. Most recently, she also played Viola Davis’ onscreen mother in How to Get Away With Murder, a role that earned her five of those nominations, the last one coming in 2020. 

Following news of Miss Tyson’s death Viola Davis took to Instagram with a heart wrenching tribute to the late icon. “I’m devastated. My heart is just broken. I loved you so much!! You were everything to me! You made me feel loved and seen and valued in a world where there is still a cloak of invisibility for us dark chocolate girls,” she wrote.

Fans are also familiar with Tyson thanks to her ongoing work with Tyler Perry, which she began in her 70s. With him, she did movies like Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea’s Family Reunion, and Why Did I Get Married Too?. Broadway fans would also note that the actor won a Tony for her 2013 role in The Trip to Bountiful, and that she was one of the original cast members in The Blacks alongside Roscoe Lee Browne and James Earl Jones. 

Naturally, it didn’t take long for the tributes to come pouring in from those who felt Tyson’s impact and her groundbreaking work. Creators like Shonda Rhimes and Tyler Perry, along with actors and other public figures like Kerry Washington, Gabrielle Union, Oprah, LeVar Burton, Elaine Welteroth, Rosario Dawson and countless others took to social media to mourn and share their memories.

As soon as the news broke, journalist and newly-minted The Talk host Elaine Welteroth went on Instagram Live to give people a space to cry together. "Rambling.. Reaching out.. Reaching FOR.. anyone who feels this way right now...after losing one of our GREATEST greats. Mostly bc I didn’t know what else to do..." Welterother wrote in the caption. 

Tyson worked right up until last year, with final projects that included Murder, the series Cherish the Day, and Tyler Perry’s Fall From Grace alongside Phylicia Rashad, Crystal Fox and Mehcad Brooks. Tyson was also active in charity and with arts organizations, working with outfits like Urban Gateways, the Human Family Institute and the American Film Institute.

The actor married twice in her life. She wed Kenneth Franklin when she was 18 years old, in 1942. Franklin left the marriage around 18 months later, and the marriage was officially dissolved in 1956. Then in 1981 Tyson married jazz musician Miles Davis (yep, that Miles Davis) and the pair were married for seven years before divorcing in 1988. They never had any children together but Tyson is survived by her niece, British actor Cathy Tyson.

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