Photos: Remembering Cicely Tyson, 1924-2021
Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role in “Sounder,” a Tony Award at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” died Thursday at age 96.
American actor Jack Nicholson left meets Cicely Tyson before the screening of "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" at the Cannes International Film Festival, May 13, 1974 in Paris. (AP Photo/ Jean Jacques Levy)
First lady Betty Ford, chats with Emmy-award winning actress Cicely Tyson, right, as the two were among honored guests at a dinner held at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday, Sept. 7, 1974. Mrs. Betty Ford and nine other prominent women, including Cicely Tyson, will be presented awards for their charity and philanthropic leadership. (AP Photo/Mark Foley)
Actress Cicely Tyson gestures as she philosophizes about the elements on Malibu Beach, California, Sunday, March 5, 1978 as residents in the background work to clean up the mess left by rain and high tides on Saturday. ?It makes you think to see how awesome the ocean is,? she said surveying the damaged beach. Tyson lives further down the beach and her house suffered no damage in the storm. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)
Cicely Tyson with her husband, jazz trumpeter Myles Davis, backstage at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York, August 22, 1983, after the opening of her new show ?The Corn is Green?. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
Actress Cicely Tyson with Miles Davis at Premier of ?Yentl? in November 1983. (AP Photo)
Actress Cicely Tyson, left, gestures during a news conference at the United Nations, Wednesday, August 14, 1985. Hugh Downs, right, announced Miss Tyson will chair the 35th anniversary UNICEF Halloween campaign for 1985. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Actress Cicely Tyson in May, 1988. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this Wednesday, May 13, 2015 file photo, Cicely Tyson attends the The Paley Center Tribute to African-American Achievements in Television at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. Tyson is honored to accept a lifetime achievement award from the Alliance for Women in Media at its 40th annual Gracies Awards ceremony on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Beverly Hills. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, File)
Honoree Cicely Tyson arrives at the Essence Third Annual "Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon" in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Thursday, March 4, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
Cicely Tyson arrives at the 43rd NAACP Image Awards on Friday, Feb. 17, 2012, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)
FILE - In this June 19, 2014 file photo, Cicely Tyson arrives at the Critics' Choice Television Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was married to Miles Davis and shared the screen with Elizabeth Taylor. She’s won a Tony and an Emmy and been nominated for an Academy Award. But even at 90, Tyson says her life’s work isn’t done. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
Cicely Tyson accepts the lifetime achievement award at the 40th Anniversary Gracies Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, May 19, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)
Cicely Tyson arrives at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 20, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
Cicely Tyson arrives at the 24th annual ELLE Women in Hollywood Awards at the Four Seasons Hotel Beverly Hills on Monday, Oct. 16, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
FILE - Cicely Tyson arrives at night two of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 15, 2019, in Los Angeles. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Actress Cicely Tyson blows a kiss after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 22, 2016, in Washington. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
FILE - Cicely Tyson peers through a monocle at the Dorchester Hotel in London, Feb. 19, 1973. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Cicely Tyson poses with her Emmy statuettes at the annual Emmy Awards presentation in Los Angeles, Ca., May 28, 1974. Tyson won for her role in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" for actress of the year, special, and best lead actress in a television drama for a special program. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Actress Cicely Tyson reacts upon seeing a life-size bronze sculpture of Rosa Parks in the Rosa Parks Library and Museum on Dec. 1, 2000, in Montgomery, Ala., following a dedication ceremony. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Kevin Glackmeyer, File)
FILE - Actress Cicely Tyson arrives at the unveiling of director and producer Tyler Perry's new motion picture and television studio in Atlanta on Oct. 4, 2008. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/W.A.Harewood, File)
FILE - Cicely Tyson models a B. Michael design in The Heart Truth Red Dress collection during Fashion Week in New York, Feb. 13, 2009. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)
FILE - Cicely Tyson arrives at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 29, 2012 in Los Angeles. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Vince Bucci, File)
FILE - Honoree Cicely Tyson arrives at the Essence Third Annual "Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon" in Beverly Hills, Calif. on March 4, 2010. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
FILE - Cicely Tyson poses with her award for best actress in a play for "The Trip to Bountiful," in the press room at the 67th Annual Tony Awards on June 9, 2013, in New York. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Cicely Tyson arrives at the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 20, 2009, in Los Angeles. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
FILE - Cicely Tyson arrives at the Governors Awards on Nov. 18, 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Cicely Tyson speaks during the funeral service for Aretha Franklin at Greater Grace Temple, Aug. 31, 2018, in Detroit. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," has died. She was 96. Tyson's death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Besides her Oscar nomination, she won two Emmys for the 1974 television drama “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” A new generation of moviegoers saw her in the 2011 hit “The Help.”