Thursday, January 28, 2021, was a sad day for the Hollywood industry, as one of its icons, Cicely Tyson, passed away.
Tyson, who died at the age of 96, had a long and successful acting career, earning 11 Emmy nods among many other awards and nominations.
From her breakout role in Sounder, a 1972 American drama film to her guest spot on ABC’s How To Get Away With Murder, Tyson gave heart-wrenching performances that stick with audiences.
Eelive.ng presents her most memorable performances below:
In 1972, Tyson starred in Sounder, the film many consider to be Tyson’s big break. She played Rebecca Morgan, the matriarch of a family of black sharecroppers. For this role, she was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for best actress.
In an interview with Elle magazine, conducted by her longtime cast-mate and friend, Viola Davis, Tyson recalled making Sounder.
“Of course, Sounder surprised us all. I remember [director] Marty Ritt calling me and saying, ‘Cis, this is supposed to be a children’s film. But if they’re not careful, they’re going to make a damn good film.’ And he was absolutely right. That movie was, for me, the first acknowledgment that I could do something that would move people,” she was quoted as saying.
The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, a 1974 American television film, earned Tyson her first Primetime Emmy. Her character, Jane Pittman, goes through life from her days as a young slave to the end of the Civil War. She won the outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie and actress of the year. She also earned a BAFTA nomination for best actress.
“I was scared to death—I knew there were some aspects of that woman’s life that I could probably handle, but there were others that I didn’t know,” Tyson said in the Elle magazine interview. “So I called the producers, and I said, I want to visit an elders’ home to be among people who might have been peers of this woman. I spent a good deal of time talking to them, watching them, feeling them, hoping that I could capture their lives. I guess the rest is history.”
In a 1977 limited series Roots, Tyson portrayed Binta, Kunta Kinte‘s mother. She was nominated for an Emmy for best supporting actress in a miniseries or movie.
Tyson navigated the Civil Rights movement as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.‘s wife, Coretta Scott King in King, a 1976 film, that earned nine Emmy Awards, including a best lead actress in a miniseries nomination for Tyson.
As the star of The Marva Collins Story, a 1981 drama, Tyson played a real woman, Marva Collins. She was a Chicago-based teacher who started her own school, Westside Preparatory, among other accomplishments. Ultimately, Tyson was nominated for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or TV movie.
Meanwhile, Former United States (US) President, Barrack Obama and his wife, Michelle have paid tribute to Tyson, who was known for portraying strong African-American characters in movies.