BEVERLY HILLS, January 29, (THEWILL) – Veteran Hollywood legend, Cicely Tyson, has died at the age of 96. Her death was announced on Thursday by her manager, Larry Thompson.
The screen goddess died two days after her memoir, Just as I Am, was published.
The late actress was the first African American to win a lead actress Emmy Award following her performance in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
Tyson also got a supporting actress Emmy for her performance in The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.
She was nominated by Oscar for playing Rebecca Morgan in the Martin Ritt drama Sounder. However, Liza Minnelli of Cabaret won the category.
THEWILL writes that Tyson played several real-life American heroines during her glorious career.
Reacting to the news of her death, former American president, Barack Obama, took to his Facebook page to pen an emotional farewell to the late actress.
He wrote: “Michelle and I were honored when Cicely came to the White House to accept the Medal of Freedom knowing she was one of the many giants upon whose shoulders we stood a trailblazer whose legacy couldn’t be measured by her Emmys and Tony and Oscar alone.”
He also prayed that God will give her family the fortitude to bear the loss.
Obama added: “When Cicely Tyson was born, doctors predicted she wouldn’t make it three months because of a tumour in her heart. What they didn’t know, what they couldn’t know, was that Cicely had a heart unlike any other, the kind that would not only beat for 96 more years but leave a mark on the world that few could match.
“In her extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson was one of the rare award-winning actors whose work on the screen was surpassed only by what she was able to accomplish off of it.”
