Cicely Tyson Passed Away!

Cicely Tyson, a legendary Black actress passed away.

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Legendary actress Cicely Tyson has passed away. The Emmy and Tony award winning actress and producer passed away at the age of 96.

She leaves behind a legacy of theater, film and television as well as activism for African Americans. She is an icon and SHERO among Black women.

Her management issued a public statement.

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

Cicely was born in 1924 in New York City. A child of Harlem, she was the daughter of Frederica Tyson, a domestic worker, and William Augustine Tyson, who worked as a carpenter, painter and odd job worker. Her parents were immigrants from Nevis (known as St. Kitts and Nevis). 

Cicely was discovered by a photographer for Ebony and became a very popular fashion model. She was a household name when she was in her mid-20s. She got her first acting gig on NBC with the series, Frontiers of Faith. Her first starring film role was Carib Gold in 1956.

She would be the first African American woman to star in a a television drama role.

The show East Side/West Side opened her role in dramas. She also had a role in the soap opera Guiding Light. She worked on shows like Naked City, The Nurses, I Spy, Slattery's People and The Bill Cosby Show.

President Barack Obama honors Cicely Tyson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

From the 1960s, Cicely had a role in the Jean Genet's play The Blacks. She played the role of Stephanie Virtue Secret-Rose Diop and starred with Maya Angelou, James Earl Jones, Godfrey Cambridge, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Charles Gordone. The show was the longest running off-Broadway non-musical of the decade, running for 1,408 performances.

She appeared on the game show To Tell The Truth as a decoy contestant for Shirley Abicair. She also had a role in the movie with legendary singer/actor Sammy Davis, Jr. in the film A Man Called Adam and starred in other roles like The Comedians and The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.

Cicely had a major role in the Roots miniseries.

Despite her achievements onstage and in films, much of her works are in television. 

She had also contributed to Miss Jane Pittman, King: The Martin Luther King Story, When No One Would Listen, A Woman Called Moses, The Marva Collins Story, The Women of Brewster Place, The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, and the TV adaption of Trip to Bountiful.

Cicely refused to be typecast as drug addicts, prostitutes, maids and servers. She believed the roles were demeaning to Black women and gave a perception of her talents being degraded.

One of the most beautiful women world, Ebony saw Cicely as a girl going places.

She said that she wants to be the part of a professional who stood for Black women and their achievements.

Even in her later years, Cicely was still acting. She had roles in media mogul Tyler Perry's movies. She appeared in his films, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion, Why Did I Get Married Too? as well as the action thriller Alex Cross. 

She also appeared in films like Because of Winn-Dixie, Fat Rose and Squeaky, Idlewild and The Help.

Cicely was active in charity and arts organizations including Urban Gateways, the Human Family Institute and the American Film Institute. She received awards from the National Council of Negro Women and the NAACP as well as the Capitol Press Award

Cicely was one of 25 Black women who were honored for contributions to art, entertainment and civil rights as a part of the 2005, Oprah Winfrey's 2005 Legends Ball.

Cicely was married to Kenneth Franklin when she was 18. Her first marriage ended with a decree after he abandoned her after 18 months of marriage. It was dissolved shortly after. She started dating jazz trumpeter Miles Davis in the 1960s after he was in a messy divorce with his wife Frances Davis. The two started dating and he used Cicely as the muse of his album Sorcerer. The relationship ended when Davis ended up marrying Betty Davis. 

Miles and Cicely rekindled their relationship and got married in 1981 in Atlanta. Then mayor Andrew Young officiated the wedding and the two wed at the Atlanta home of  convicted sexual predator, Bill Cosby. The two had an abusive relationship though.

Miles often got high on cocaine and drank liquor heavily. He would be abuse towards her and was known to have cheated on her as well as his previous relationships. 

Davis did try to beat the cocaine addition but it didn't save his marriage. the two would divorce and shortly after the divorce, he died in 1991.

Tyson has a daughter and remained private about her child. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She was a vegetarian and very active before her passing.

She is the godmother of Denzel Washington's daughter and rocker Lenny Kravitz.