Cicely Tyson

Background

Cicely Tyson was born on December 19, 1924, in the Bronx. Her parents were West Indian immigrants who came to New York City initially and then moved to East Harlem. Her mother was Fredericka (Huggins) Tyson and her father was William Augustine Tyson. Growing up in a devout family, Tyson sang in the church choir and went to prayer services at the East Harlem Episcopal Church.

Her first acting role was in the 1956 film “Carib Gold.” She made her theatrical debut at the Harlem Y.M.C.A. in “Dark of the Moon” in 1958. In 1961, she made her television debut in “Frontiers of Faith.” Tyson was a member of the original cast of French playwright Jean Genet’s “The Blacks” in the early 1960s. With 1,408 performances, the production was the longest-running off-Broadway non-musical of the decade. She received the Vernon Rice Award in 1961-1962 for her performance in “Moon on a Rainbow Shawl.” In 1972, Tyson starred in the film “Sounder” for which she was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and won the N.S.F.C. Best Actress and N.B.R. Best Actress Awards. She starred in the 1974 television film “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” She earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie and an Emmy Award for Actress of the Year for her portrayal of a black woman before the civil rights movement began.

Tyson narrated the award-winning documentary “Up from the Bottoms: The Search for the American Dream.” She won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play in 2013. In 2020, she starred in the Netflix original film “A Fall From Grace.” She released her memoir “Just as I Am” in 2021. She died on January 28, 2021.