There are some people who we believe will never die. Maybe it is because of their impact on society or the fact that they seem to have been around for forever, but the idea of their death seems unimaginable.
Cicely Tyson was one of those people.
With a career that spanned over seven decades, Tyson was easily one of the most influential actresses — Black or otherwise — to grace our screens.
Known mostly for roles that portrayed Black women as strong and resilient, she was first discovered by a photographer for Ebony magazine and became a successful fashion model, picking up small television roles from then on.
Tyson’s first film debut came in 1956, where she portrayed Dottie in the maritime-film Carib Gold.
She continued to pick up various roles on and off the screen, making a name for herself in film and theater. In 1961, she starred in French playwright Jean Genet’s play The Blacks with other notable Black figures such as James Earl Jones and Maya Angelou.
However, it was her 1972 portrayal of family matriarch Rebecca Morgan in the film Sounder that really gave fame to her name. She was nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress.
In 1974, she starred in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman as the titular character, earning her first Primetime Emmy.
Throughout the entirety of her career, she played a variety of influential roles, such as Kunta Kinte’s mother Binta in Roots, Constantine Bates in The Help, and Annalise Keating’s mother Ophelia Harkness in How to Get Away With Murder.
Amassing numerous awards and honors, including an induction in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and being a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, to call her an icon would be an understatement.
While her death might have come as a shock to many people, it can certainly be said that she lived a full life.
Just two days before her death on Jan. 28, she released a memoir entitled “Just As I Am” and gave an interview with Gayle King, stating that when the time came for her to leave this earth, she would want the world to know that she did her best.
Not only did she do her best, but she was the best, and her life will continue through all of the roles she played and all of the lives she touched throughout her career.