Cicely Tyson had been an actress from the United States. She was noted for portraying powerful African-American women during the course of a career that spanned more than seven decades. Tyson won three Primetime Emmy Awards, four Black Reel Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award, one Tony Award, a Peabody Award, as well as an honorary Academy Award.
Tyson rose to prominence with her portrayal as Rebecca Morgan in Sounder, for which she was nominated in both the Academy Award for Best Actress as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress inside a Motion Picture – Drama. She had previously featured in the modest movie and television parts.
Tyson’s performance as Miss Jane Pittman inside the 1974 tv movie The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, modelled on Ernest J. Gaines’ book, earned her even more attention.
In the twenty-first century, Tyson continued to perform in films and on television. She starred as Constantine Jefferson inside the award-winning movie The Help in 2011. She also was nominated five times for such Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Ophelia Harkness in the legal drama TV series How to Get Away With Murder, where she has performed that since the show’s premiere in 2014.
Tyson has also featured in a number of stage performances in addition to her film work. Her Off-Broadway performance in Moon on the Rainbow Shawl earned her a Vernon Rice Award in 1962. In 2013, Tyson won the Tony Award, the Outer Critics Award, as well as the Drama Desk Award for Best Actress inside a Play for her role as Carrie Watts inside the Broadway, play The Trip to Bountiful.
In 2015, Tyson was designated a Kennedy Center honoree. Tyson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in November 2016, the highest civilian honour inside the United States. She will be honoured into the Television Hall of Fame in 2020.
Tyson was born in the Bronx, however, moved to East Harlem with her family shortly after. Fredericka (Huggins) Tyson, a domestic servant, and William Augustine Tyson, a carpenter as well as painter, were the parents of three children. Her parents were West Indian immigrants from the island of Nevis. On August 4, 1919, her father came to New York City there at age of 21 and was processed at Ellis Island.
Tyson was raised in a devout household. She sang in the choir and went to prayer services at an East Harlem Episcopal church.
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