Pioneering Hollywood Icon Cicely Tyson Passes Away at 96

Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress Cicely Tyson passed away Thursday afternoon at the age of 96.

"I have managed Miss Tyson's career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing," said her manager, Larry Thompson. "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."

After debuting in a small role in 1957's Twelve Angry Men, she made her formal debut in Sidney Poitier's 1959 film, Odds Against Tomorrow. In 1972, she appeared in Sounder and earned herself an Oscar nomination for Best Actress. She later received an honorary Oscar in 2018.

While Tyson's contributions on the stage and big screen are legendary, she enjoyed a distinguished TV career, earning three Emmy awards. The actress appeared in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Roots, King: The Martin Luther King Story, and many more. She's the first Black woman to receive a recurring role in a drama series and received 16 Emmy nominations during her career.

Tyson was also known to reject roles where she was asked to play a drug addict, prostitute, maid, or any other role she thought was demeaning to Black women. She even refused to star in the blaxploitation films that were popular during the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s.

In 2016, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian honor in the United States. Tyson was also inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2020. The actress was one of the founding members of the Dance Theater of Harlem in 1969 and was active in charity and arts organizations such as Urban Gateways, the Human Family Institute, and the American Film Institute.

Cecily Tyson was married to legendary jazz musician Miles Davis from 1981 - 1988. It was her second and final marriage. She is survived by her niece, British actress Cathy Tyson.