Just a month after she turned 96,and days after releasing her Memoir titled, Just As I Am, Hollywood legend, Cicely Tyson, has died.
Tyson’s death was announced by her family, through her manager, Larry Thompson.
The statement issued reads:
“With heavy heart, the family of Miss Cicely Tyson announces her peaceful transition this afternoon. At this time, please allow the family their privacy”.
Cicely started out as a model and soon began her screen career with small parts in movies.
She soon started gaining fame in the early 1970s, when Black women were finally starting to get starring roles.
She became the first African American woman to star in a television drama.
Her magnificent roles soon earned her Oscar nominations.
She won two Emmys for playing the 110-year-old former slave in the 1974 television drama “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.”
She was one of the recipients for the 2016 Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
At that ceremony, President Barack Obama said: “Cicely’s convictions and grace have helped for us to see the dignity of every single beautiful memory of the American family.”
She was also given an honorary Oscar statuette at the annual Governors Awards in 2018.
