Cicely Tyson obit

Cicely Tyson, award-winning American actress noted for playing strong characters – obituary

 

 She was not on the list.

Cecily Tyson took lead roles in Sounder (1972) and in the 1974 TV movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman among many other films.

Pioneering Hollywood actress Cicely Tyson - who was known for portraying strong African-American characters - has died aged 96, her manager has said.

No cause of the death was given. The former fashion model had a career that spanned seven decades.

Tyson won two Emmys for her performance in the 1974 civil rights-era film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.

She also became the first black woman to take on a main role in the TV drama East Side/West Side in the 1960s.

Presenting Tyson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, the then US President Barack Obama said that apart from her achievements as an actress, she had also shaped the course of history.

    In her extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson was one of the rare award-winning actors whose work on the screen was surpassed only by what she was able to accomplish off of it. She had a heart unlike any other—and for 96 years, she left a mark on the world that few will ever match. pic.twitter.com/JRsL3zlKtP

    — Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 29, 2021

Tyson turned down stereotypical roles for black women, agreeing only to play characters that were strong, positive and realistic.

"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 Thursday's statement announcing her death.

"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 manager said, adding that she died peacefully.

Tyson's memoir Just As I Am was published on Tuesday and Vulture wrote about seven highlights from the book, including her accidentally hanging up on Mr Obama's aide ringing to tell her she had won the prestigious medal.

Oh please,' I said laughing, feeling sure it was a prankster talking some foolishness," she recalled. "How did you even get this number? She tried to persuade me that her declaration was true, but I wouldn't hear of it'."

It also mentioned how she met her future husband, trumpeter Miles Davis, in the 60s after he knocked on the door of his neighbour Diahann Carroll's house, where Tyler was a guest. He appeared in just a robe, to ask for some sugar.

Vulture said the book later went on to detail the couple falling out after their marriage, after Tyson first sniffed out "the stench of Miles's philandering". They were married from 1981 to 1988.

Born in New York's Harlem, she was raised by her devoutly religious parents from the Caribbean island of Nevis.

After being discovered by a fashion editor at Ebony magazine her modelling career took off. By 1957, she was acting in off-Broadway productions and went on to gain small roles in feature films before she was cast as Portia in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter in 1968.

After paying tribute, US broadcaster and actress Oprah Winfrey said: "She used her career to illuminate the humanity of black people. The roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised."

Tyson recently told CBS interviewer Gayle King: "I had no idea I would touch anybody."

    "When the time comes, what do you want us to remember about you?" — @GayleKing

    "I done my best. That’s all." — @IAmCicelyTyson #RIP to the legendary Miss Cicely Tyson. ❤️

    — CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) January 29, 2021

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on Twitter

Michelle Obama added she would "miss her dearly", saying: "I smile knowing how many people she inspired, just like me, to walk a little taller, speak a little more freely, and live a little bit more like God intended."

Tyson was nominated for a best actress Oscar and Golden Globe in 1973 for Sounder, about a family of poor black sharecroppers in the midst of the Great Depression in 1933 Louisiana.

In 1973, Tyson told the BBC's Film Programme she hoped the acclaim for her role in Sounder "allows me to be considered for roles simply because I'm a good actress rather than because I'm a black actress, which limits my ability to work.

"And if that happens then I will be extremely grateful because that will mean that when a good role comes up that I will be considered and that I will not have to wait until a role is written for a back actress."

The Tony Awards also nominated her in 2013 for lead actress for the play The Trip to Bountiful, about an unhappy, elderly woman desperate to visit her girlhood home before she dies.

Tyson also appeared in 2011 film The Help and TV shows including 1977's Roots, season four of House of Cards and the recent How to Get Away with Murder, which starred Viola Davis.

Oscar-winning actress Davis said Tyson had "made me feel loved and seen and valued in a world where there is still a cloak of invisibility for us dark chocolate girls".

    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. You gave me permission to dream...

    — Viola Davis (@violadavis) January 29, 2021

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.

TV producer Shonda Rhimes, whose shows include How to Get Away with Murder and Bridgerton, paid tribute to "an extraordinary person", and said "her power and grace will be with us forever", while actress and presenter Whoopi Goldberg praised "a tower of power, a pillar of strength, CLEAR about who she was, and how she was to be treated... and that never wavered".

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, whose films include Selma, the documentary 13th and TV drama When They See Us, remembered Tyson's warm embrace, saying: "Your hugs I'll remember. How your petite arms wrapped around me like mighty branches of a sunlit tree, strong and warm. Your love I'll remember. You loved me for some reason and told me often."

Singer Mariah Carey called the actress "a queen who graced the world with her beauty, strength and talent" while actress Jada Pinkett Smith simply called Tyson a "legend"

Singer Rihanna added her voice by calling Tyson "a true legend" and Euphoria star Zendaya tweeted that "this one hurts, today we honour and celebrate the life of one of the greatest to ever do it. Thank you Cicely Tyson. Rest in great power".

Kerry Washington, the actress, producer and director, paid tribute by saying: "Thank you for blessing us and for lighting way. I miss you already. So so much."

Bryce Dallas Howard, who was in The Help, called Tyson a "pioneer and enlightened genius", adding: "To have been in her presence was a privilege. Thank you for your light, leadership, and legacy."

USA Today said Tyson's book talked about her having a baby girl called Joan at 17, and raised her largely out of the spotlight.

Tyson was also godmother to the singer Lenny Kravitz, having been friends with his mother, as well as to Denzel Washington's daughter Katia and actor, director, producer and writer Tyler Perry's son Aman. She also had an early marriage to Kenneth Franklin which was later dissolved.

Filmography

Film

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1956      Carib Gold           Dottie  

1958      Odds Against Tomorrow                Jazz Club bartender        

1959      The Last Angry Man        Girl Left on Porch             (uncredited)

1966      A Man Called Adam         Claudia Ferguson             

1967      The Comedians Marie Therese  

1968      The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter       Portia   

1972      Sounder               Rebecca Morgan               Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress

National Board of Review Award for Best Actress

National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress

Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress

Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama

1976      The Blue Bird     Tylette, The Cat                

1976      The River Niger Mattie Williams               

1978      A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich        Sweets

1979      The Concorde ... Airport '79         Elaine   

1981      Bustin' Loose      Vivian Perry       

1991      Fried Green Tomatoes   Sipsey  

1997      Hoodlum             Stephanie St. Clair            Nominated — Acapulco Black Film Festival Award for Best Actress

Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

2001      The Double Dutch Divas!               Herself (short subject) (uncredited)

2005      Because of Winn-Dixie   Gloria Dump      

2005      Diary of a Mad Black Woman      Myrtle   NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Nominated — BET Comedy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Theatrical Film

Nominated — Black Movie Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

2006      Madea's Family Reunion               Myrtle  

2006      Fat Rose and Squeaky    Celine   

2006      Idlewild                Mother Hopkins               

2007      Rwanda Rising   Voice of Jeanette Nyirabagarwa                (documentary)

2009      Up from the Bottoms: The Search for the American Dream            Narrator               (documentary)

2010      Why Did I Get Married Too?        Ola        

2011      The Help              Constantine Jefferson    Black Film Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble

Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast

Hollywood Film Festival Award for Ensemble of the Year

National Board of Review Award for Best Cast

Satellite Award for Best Cast – Motion Picture

Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble

Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble

Nominated — Central Ohio Film Critics Association for Best Ensemble

Nominated — Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Ensemble

Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble

Nominated — Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble

2012      Alex Cross            Regina "Nana Mama" Cross        

2013      The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia              Mamma Kay      

2016      Showing Roots   Hattie   

2017      Last Flag Flying Mrs. Hightower                

2020      A Fall from Grace              Alice     

 

Television

Year       Title       Role       Notes

1962      The Nurses         Betty Ann Warner            Episode: "Frieda"

1963      To Tell the Truth               Decoy contestant             Episode: March 25, 1963 (decoy for Shirley Abicair)

1963      Naked City                          Episode: "Howard Running Bear Is a Turtle"

1963–64               East Side/West Side        Jane Foster         26 episodes

1965      Slattery's People               Sarah Brookman               Episode: "Question: Who You Taking to the Main Event, Eddie?"

1965–66               I Spy       Princess Amara

Vickie Harmon   Episode: "So Long, Patrick Henry"

Episode: "Trial by Treehouse"

1966      Guiding Light      Martha Frazier

1967      Cowboy in Africa              Julie Anderson Episode: "Tomorrow on the Wind"

1967      Judd for the Defense      Lucille Evans       Episode: "Commitment"

1968–69               The F.B.I.             Julie Harmon

Lainey Harber    Episode: "The Enemies"

Episode: "Silent Partners"

1969      Medical Center Susan Wiley        Episode: "The Last 10 Yards"

1969      The Courtship of Eddie's Father Betty Kelly           Episode: "Guess Who's Coming for Lunch"

1970      Gunsmoke          Rachel Biggs       Episode: "The Scavengers"

1970      Mission: Impossible        Alma Ross            Episode: "Death Squad"

1970      The Bill Cosby Show        Mildred Hermosa             Episode: "Blind Date"

1970      Here Come the Brides    Princess Lucenda              Episode: "A Bride for Obie Brown"

1971      Insight                   Episode: "The Bird of the Mast"

1971      Marriage: Year One         Emma Teasley   Unsold pilot

1971      Neighbors                          

1972      Emergency!        Mrs. Johnson     Episode: "Crash"

1972      Wednesday Night Out                   

1974      The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman               Jane Pittman      Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie

Emmy Award for Actress of the Year – Special

Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

1974      Free to Be… You and Me               Herself

1976      Just an Old Sweet Song Priscilla Simmons            

1977      Roots     Binta      Miniseries

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie

1977      Wilma   Blanche Rudolph             

1978      King       Coretta Scott King            Miniseries

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie

1978      A Woman Called Moses                 Harriet Ross Tubman     

1979      Saturday Night Live         Herself (host)     Episode: "Cicely Tyson/Talking Heads"

1981      The Body Human: Becoming a Woman   Host

1981      The Marva Collins Story                 Marva Collins     NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie

1982      Benny's Place     Odessa

1985      Playing with Fire               Carol Phillips     

1986      Intimate Encounters       Dr. Claire Dalton              

1986      Acceptable Risks               Janet Framm     

1986      Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story           Muriel   NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special

1989      The Women of Brewster Place    Mrs. Browne     

1990      The Kid Who Loved Christmas     Etta       

1990      B.L. Stryker         Ruth Hastings    Episode: "Winner Takes All"

1990      Heat Wave          Ruthana Richardson        CableACE Award for Actress in a Movie or Miniseries

1991      Clippers                Donna   Unsold pilot

1992      Duplicates           Dr. Randolph     

1992      When No One Would Listen        Sarah    

1993      House of Secrets              Evangeline         

1994      Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All             Castralia, Marsden Family House Slave/Maid       Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie

Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie

1994–95               Sweet Justice     Carrie Grace Battle          Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Drama Series

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

1996      The Road to Galveston   Jordan Roosevelt              NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special

Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best TV Actress

Nominated — CableACE Award for Actress in a Movie or Miniseries

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie

1997      Bridge of Time   Guardian             

1997      Riot        Maggie Segment: "Homecoming Day"

Nominated — CableACE Award for Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries

1997      Ms. Scrooge        Ms. Ebenita Scrooge      

1997      The Price of Heaven (Blessed Assurance)               Vesta Lotte Battle           

1998      Always Outnumbered    Luvia     

1998      Mama Flora's Family       Mama Flora        NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special

1999      A Lesson Before Dying    Tante Lou            Black Reel Award for Network/Cable – Best Supporting Actress

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie

Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special

1999      Aftershock: Earthquake in New York        Emily Lincoln     

2000      Touched by an Angel      Abigail Peabody-Jackson               Episode: "Living the Rest of My Life"

2000      The Outer Limits               Justice Gretchen Parkhurst          Episode: "Final Appeal"

2001      Jewel     Cathedral            

2001      The Proud Family             Mrs. Maureen Parker (voice)       Episode: Behind Family Lines

2002      The Rosa Parks Story       Leona Edwards McCauley             Black Reel Award for Network/Cable – Best Supporting Actress

2005      Higglytown Heroes          Great Aunt Shirley Hero                Episode: "Wayne's 100 Special Somethings"

2009      Relative Stranger              Pearl      Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie

2009      Law & Order: Special Victims Unit             Ondine Burdett                 Episode: "Hell"

2014      The Trip to Bountiful       Mrs. Carrie Watts             TV movie

Black Reel Award for Best Actress: T.V. Movie/Cable

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special

Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie (executive producer)

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

Nominated — Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries

Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Film

Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie

2015–2020          How to Get Away with Murder   Ophelia Harkness             10 episodes: "Mama's Here Now", "There's My Baby", "Anna Mae", "Go Cry Somewhere Else", "I'm Going Away", "Lahey v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania", "Where Are Your Parents", "Are You The Mole" - [voice only], "The Reckoning", "Stay"

Nominated — Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series

Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (2015, 2017–2020)

Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2016–2017)

2016      House of Cards Doris Jones         3 episodes

2019      Madam Secretary             Flo Avery             Episode: "Leaving the Station"

2020      Cherish the Day                Miss Luma Lee Langston                Series regular

 

Theatre

Year       Title       Role       Theatre                Ref.

1957      Dark of the Moon                             Little Theatre    

1959      Jolly's Progress Jolly (understudy)            Longacre Theatre            

1960      The Cool World Girl         Eugene O'Neill Theatre

1961      The Blacks: A Clown Show            Stephanie Virtue Diop    St. Mark's Playhouse      

1962      Moon on a Rainbow Shawl                           East 11th Street Theater              

1962      Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright            Celeste Chipley

Adelaide Smith (understudy)      Booth Theatre

1963      The Blue Boy in Black      Joan       Masque Theatre              

1963      Trumpets of the Lord      Rev. Marion Alexander Astor Place Theatre        

1966      A Hand Is on the Gate    Performer           Longacre Theatre            

1968      Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights   Myrna Jessup     John Golden Theatre     

1969      To Be Young, Gifted and Black    Various                 Cherry Lane Theatre      

1969      Trumpets of the Lord      Rev. Marion Alexander Brooks Atkinson Theatre              

1983      The Corn Is Green            Miss Moffat        Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

2013      The Trip to Bountiful       Miss Carrie Watts             Stephen Sondheim Theatre        

2015      The Gin Game    Fonsia Dorsey    John Golden Theater     

 

Radio

Year       Title       Role

1979      Sears Radio Theater        Host, Thursdays; "Love and Hate Night"