by Conan Simmons – January 31, 2021 – 4:43 pm
The highly acclaimed actress, Cicely Tyson passed away Thursday, January 28 at the age of 96.
Born in New York City, December 19, 1924 Cicely Tyson began her career modeling for magazines such as Ebony in the 1950’s. She would soon begin appearing on television in shows such as ‘The Naked City’, ‘The F.B.I.’, ‘The Courtship of Eddie’s Father’, ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Gunsmoke’. She took to acting on stage in Off-Broadway productions starting in 1957.
Cicely Tyson’s feature film debut came in the 1966 drama, ‘A Man Called Adam’ starring Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Armstrong, Ossie Davis, Mel Tormé and Peter Lawford. Later film roles would include ‘Bustin’ Loose’, ‘Fried Green Tomatoes’ and ‘The Help’.
One of her most famous roles came in 1972 in the drama ‘Sounder’ for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Lead Actress. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for her work in the film.
Ultimately, Cicely Tyson would receive an honorary Oscar in 2019 for her contributions to the screen. She is the first woman of color to ever be the recipient of an honorary Oscar.
Though only nominated for a competitive Oscar her fortunes faired better with the Emmy Awards, winning twice. Her first win was for Best Lead Actress in a Drama for the 1974 television movie, ‘The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman’, a role that also earned her a BAFTA nomination. Tyson’s second Emmy win came in 1994 for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Special for her work in ‘Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All’.
Over the years Cicely Tyson was nominated multiple times for Emmy Awards in both the Lead and Supporting categories.
Tyson’s nominations for Best Leading Actress at the Emmy’s include her work for a Limited Series ‘King’ in 1978, ‘The Marva Collins Story’ in 1981, Lead Actress in a Drama Series ‘Sweet Justice’ in 1994 and Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for 2014’s ‘The Trip to Bountiful’, where she was also nominated as an executive producer in the category of Best Miniseries or Movie.
Nominations for Supporting Actress at the Emmy’s include her work on the classic 1977 miniseries ‘Roots’, the 1999 television movie ‘A Lesson Before Dying’ and the 2009 television movie ‘Relative Stranger’.
In her 90’s, Cicely Tyson continued to dominate the small screen with repeated Emmy nominations for her work on the hit series ‘How to Get Away with Murder’. For her work on this show Tyson was nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Cicely Tyson was married to Jazz great, Miles Davis from 1981 until their divorce in 1988.