Worked as a secretary and model while establishing herself as an actress
Will only portray strong images of women
Co-founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem with Arthur Mitchell.
She was married to Miles Davis by Andrew Young in the home of Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby was the best man, and gave away the bride.
Now residing in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
She was the Thursday night host for CBS Radio's "Sears Mystery Theater" (1979). She was still Thursday's host when it became "The Mutual Radio Theater" on Mutual Radio (1980).
Aunt of Cathy Tyson.
Honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Is the first African American Actress to win an Emmy award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Television Movie for her performance in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman".
In 1972 she and singer-actress Diana Ross were both nominated for "Best Actress in a Leading Role" Oscars for their performances in Lady Sings the Blues (1972) and Sounder (1972) respectively. This was only the second time in the history of the Academy Awards that African American actresses were nominated in the "Best Actress" Oscar category. The first was Dorothy Dandridge's nomination for Carmen Jones (1954).
She has a High/middle school named after her called The Cicely Tyson School of Performing and Fine arts.
Tyson won a judgment entitling her to full payment ($750,000) for her appearance in the short-lived 1983 Broadway play "A Corn Is Green," An Appeals Court upheld an earlier ruling handed down in 1996 in favor of Tyson. Tyson was under contract to producer 'Elizabeth Taylor' (I) 's to act in stage and screen versions of the classic play. After critics panned the play, Tyson was fired for taking a night off to attend a tribute to her then-husband, the late jazz musician Miles Davis. The play closed after less than two weeks. Tyson maintained she should be paid as negotiated in her contract, even though the show closed early and a planned TV video of the production was never made.
Cicely Tyson Detailed Biography
Cicely Tyson (born December 19, 1933 in New York City) is an award-winning African-American actress. Her devoutly Christian parents came from the island of Nevis in the West Indies, but Cicely was born and raised in Harlem, New York. She was discovered by a photographer for Ebony magazine, and became a popular fashion model. Her first film was an uncredited role in Carib Gold in 1957, but she went on to do television - the celebrated series East Side/West Side and the long-running soap opera The Guiding Light.
In 1967, she appeared in The Comedians, and the following year, had a featured role in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. In 1972, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the critically acclaimed Sounder.
In 1974 she won two Emmy Awards for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Other acclaimed television roles included Roots, King, in which she played Coretta Scott King, The Marva Collins Story, When No One Would Listen and Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (for which she won another Emmy). In 2005, Tyson co-starred in the movies Because of Winn-Dixie and Diary of a Mad Black Woman.
Tyson co-founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Tyson was married to legendary trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1988. She has mentioned a daughter but there is no evidence of her ever having had any children.
