Tributes pour in for trailblazing actress Cicely Tyson: ‘This one cuts deep’
Cicely Tyson was nothing short of “extraordinary,” “influential,” and “the personification of beauty, grace, wisdom and strength,” according to those who knew her best.
Tyson, a trailblazing actress known for her on-screen portrayals of resilient Black women, died Thursday. She was 96.
The tributes soon poured in for the beloved woman who enjoyed a storied life on and off the screen.
“This one cuts deep,” said LeVar Burton, who starred alongside Tyson in the 1977 miniseries “Roots.” “@IAmCicely Tyson was my first screen Mom. Elegance, warmth, beauty, wisdom, style and abundant grace. She was as regal as they come ... I will love her forever.”
Oprah Winfrey lauded the work of her good friend in a similar tribute, saying Tyson’s calling to act was “more than a job.”
“She used her career to illuminate the humanity of Black people,” Winfrey wrote in a note posted to Twitter. “The roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised. Her life, so fully lived, is a testimony to Greatness.”
Tyson appeared in more than 90 movies and TV shows dating to the 1950s, but is perhaps best known for her roles in “Sounder” (1972) and “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” (1974). More recently, she starred in director Ava DuVernay’s “Cherish the Day” TV series on OWN and the Shonda Rhimes-produced thriller “How to Get Away with Murder” on ABC.
Throughout her career, Tyson earned several high honors, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, a Critics’ Choice Movie Award, half a dozen NAACP Image Awards and an honorary Academy Award in 2018.
Her early life and decades-long career is chronicled in her new memoir “Just as I Am,” published two days before her death.
“I want to go home knowing that I loved generously, even if imperfectly,” Tyson wrote of leaving a legacy, adding that she also wants to “be recalled as one who squared my shoulders in the service of Black women, as one who made us walk taller and envision greater for ourselves.”
Fellow actors, fans and notable figures took to social media to say their goodbyes after Tyson’s passing on Thursday.
Filmmaker Tyler Perry said the news ”brought me to me knees,” and remembered Tyson as “the grandmother I never had and the wisdom tree that I could always sit under to fill my cup.” Tyson appeared in several of Perry’s films and has a sound stage dedicated to her on the actor’s 330-acre studio in Atlanta.
See more tributes from friends and fans below.
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Tributes pour in for trailblazing actress Cicely Tyson: ‘This one cuts deep’."