On January 28th, 2021, the world lost an icon of both stage and screen — Cicely Tyson. From being discovered as a model in the 1950’s to winning several major awards over the course of her nearly seven-decade career, Tyson is most known today for her commitment to powerful and positive portrayals of Black women.
Tyson was born in Harlem in 1924. Her parents were immigrants from the Caribbean island of Nevis. Throughout the ’50s and ’60s, Tyson was cast in several roles across television, film, and the stage. Initially, she did not have steady work, as the industry at the time cast Black actresses primarily in roles such as prostitutes and housemaids. Tyson remained adamant that she would only play parts that showed Black women in more nuanced, positive images.
In a 2015 interview, Tyson said, “I couldn’t be Black and have it not impact my career. I went for years not working
Her “big break” is widely considered to be the role of Rebecca Morgan in “Sounder,” a drama set in 1903’s Lousiana about a family of sharecroppers, in 1972. For this role, she was nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe award, along with winning NSFC Best Actress and NBR Best Actress.
She would go on to win a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Actress for her work as the titular character in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pitman,” which follows the life of a 110-year-old woman from her birth into slavery to her death during the early Civil Rights movement. Tyson is noted for the layers of emotional intensity she brought to these roles, along with others.
Tyson’s success with television movies continued, with notable work including biographical roles such as Harriet Tubman, the mothers of Rosa Park and Olympian Wilma Rudolph, Chicago educator Marva Collins, and Coretta Scott King.
No stranger to professional theatre and Broadway, Tyson became the oldest Tony Award for Best Actress winner at 88 years of age for her performance as Miss Carrie Watts in “The Trip to Bountiful.” She also won Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for the same role.
Other noteworthy credits include Binta in “Roots,” Constantine Jefferson in “The Help,” “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All,” “Because of Winn-Dixie,” and even guest-starred on “How To Get Away with Murder.”
In 2015, Tyson was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors. The following year, she received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama.
Cicely Tyson’s body of work is extensive and prestigious. Her legacy is one of trailblazing, unrelenting commitment, and electrifying talent. While not part of the first generation of Black actresses pioneering to achieve industry breakthroughs, Tyson’s impact, specifically on the TV movie genre, is undeniable and unforgettable. She was vocal and candid about her experiences as a Black woman defying the odds to change both Hollywood and American culture, saying, “you have to have a certain amount of faith and trust and belief in what you do.”
Through her onscreen recognition, Tyson’s style was also groundbreaking in terms of Black women’s hairstyles. In a 2012 interview, Tyson joked about throwing away bags of hate mail for wearing her hair naturally in “East Side/West Side.” Ebony magazine dubbed her the “mother of the Afro” for setting trends with her natural hair. Her cornrows in “Sounder” also reportedly were also much emulated.
In her memoir, published shortly before her passing, Tyson writes, “I was determined to do all I could to alter the narrative about Black people – to change the way Black women, in particular, were perceived, by reflecting our dignity.”