Tyson, who first entered the spotlight as a model, earned an honorary Oscar statuette, three Emmy Awards and a Tony Award in a career that spanned decades.
, the award-winning actress who trailblazed a career across several decades and appeared in countless TV shows, films and Broadway plays, died Thursday at age 96, according to her manager. Tyson’s role as a sharecropper’s wife in the film « Sounder » landed her an Oscar nomination in 1973. « With heavy heart, the family of Miss Cicely Tyson announces her peaceful transition this afternoon, » Tyson’s family said in a statement from her manager. « At this time, please allow the family their privacy. » Tyson, who first entered the spotlight as a model, was well-known across the entertainment industry, earning two Emmy Awards — best lead actress in a drama and best actress in a special — for her role as a former slave in the 1974 TV drama « The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. » In a defining moment of the film, Pittman walks up and drinks from the whites-only water fountain. « Well, when I’m working, I just tell everybody. I said, ‘I don’t care what you see. Please don’t tell me about it… because I work so organically,' » Tyson said. « So the next day, when I came on the set, I knew something had happened. And I simply said, ‘Please don’t tell me. I don’t want to know…’ and people were talking about the walk. I said, ‘What walk?' » In 1994, she won a supporting actress Emmy for her role in « Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, » and a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 for best leading actress in the play « The Trip to Bountiful. » She starred alongside Vanessa Williams, who was inspired by Tyson’s work ethic, according to a 2015 interview. « She did not miss one performance ever…. There’s no excuse to not show up when Cicely Tyson can show up every day, » Williams said at the time about Tyson.
