The actress Cicely Tyson, who died on Jan. 28 at age 96, was justly celebrated for her roles honoring African-American experiences in “Sounder” (1972), “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” (1974), and “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” (1994), among others. But less has been said about her early work with stellar Jewish performers, and how that may have impacted her fight for civil rights.
Tyson was born in Harlem to parents originally from Nevis in the West Indies, where traces of a venerable community of Sephardic Jewish origin are still visible.
The film was directed by Daniel Mann (born Daniel Chugerman), with a screenplay adapted from a novel by Gerald Green (born Greenberg). Green would later write the teleplay for “Holocaust,” the 1978 TV miniseries.