Iconic Hollywood actor, Cicely Tyson is dead. Tyson passed away on Thursday, aged 96.
Announcing her death, her family said:
“With heavy heart, the family of Miss Cicely Tyson announces her peaceful transition this afternoon,” .
Cicely Tyson was discovered first as a model for Ebony Magazine.
Her screen career had kicked off on a low key in the late 1950’s when she appeared in movies like 1957’s “Twelve Angry Men”, “Odds Against Tomorrow,” “The Last Angry Man” , amongst others.
She came to limelight in the early 1970s, at a time that black women finally started bagging more respected roles.
Her big role as Rebecca Morgan, in the 1972 film “Sounder” gained her massive attention and the next year, she bagged an Oscar nomination for best actress.
Tyson did not win the Oscar award in 1973 but she was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2018 for her outstanding body of work.
She appeared in the series “Roots,”. She also starred as Harriet Tubman in the series “A Woman Called Moses,” and Coretta Scott King in the 1978 series “King”.
In 1994, she was awarded an Emmy for her role as Castalia in “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.”
She also won two Emmy awards for “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” and a Tony Award in 2013 for “The Trip to Bountiful.”
Among others, are her outstanding roles in 1991’s “Fried Green Tomatoes,” Tyler Perry’s 2005 “Diary of a Mad Black Woman” and 2011’s “The Help,”.
In 2016, President Barack Obama honored Tyson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
Tyson was a role model to many who saw her to be brave and resilient.
Her book “Just as I Am : A memoir” was released just days before her death.
Tributes are now pouring in for the late actress, in celebration of her life and legacy.