Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper's wife in "Sounder," a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers' hearts in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," died Thursday at age 96.
Cicely Tyson was a pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,”
“I’m very selective as I’ve been my whole career about what I do. Unfortunately, I’m not the kind of person who works only for money. It has to have some real substance for me to do it,” she told The Associated Press in 2013.
Besides her Oscar nomination, she won two Emmys for playing the 110-year-old former slave in the 1974 television drama “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” A new generation of moviegoers saw her in the 2011 hit “The Help.” In 2018, she was given an honorary Oscar statuette at the annual Governors Awards. “This is a culmination of all those years of haves and have nots,” Tyson said.
Cicely Tyson, groundbreaking actress, dies at 96
Hillel Italie
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FILE - Cicely Tyson arrives at night two of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sept. 15, 2019, in Los Angeles. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecroppers wife in Sounder, a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers hearts in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, has died. She was 96. Tyson s death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK – Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper’s wife in “Sounder,” won a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers’ hearts in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,” died Thursday at age 96.
Mark Kennedy
FILE - Cicely Tyson models a B. Michael design in The Heart Truth Red Dress collection during Fashion Week in New York, Feb. 13, 2009. Tyson, the pioneering Black actress who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropper s wife in Sounder, a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewers hearts in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, has died. She was 96. Tyson s death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not immediately provide additional details. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) February 01, 2021 - 1:35 PM
NEW YORK - Cicely Tyson, the pioneering Black actor who gained an Oscar nomination for her role as the sharecropperâs wife in âSounder,â won a Tony Award in 2013 at age 88 and touched TV viewersâ hearts in âThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,â died Thursday at age 96.