Tributes poured in from all over the world at the news of Hollywood actor Cicely Tyson’s death. Her family made the announcement via her manager Larry Thompson on Thursday afternoon.
Former model Tyson won two Emmys in 1974 for her civil-rights film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. She was the first Black woman to play a significant role in the Eastside/Westside television drama in the 1960s.
Former US President Barack Obama led the tributes on Twitter, sharing that Tyson ‘had a heart unlike any other.’
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. She had a heart unlike any other—and for 96 years, she left a mark on the world that few will ever match. pic.twitter.com/JRsL3zlKtP
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) January 29, 2021
Viola Davis, who played the role of Tyson’s daughter on the series How to Get Away with Murder, said she was heartbroken by the news.
“My heart is just broken,” Viola said, “I loved you so much!! You were everything to me! You made me feel loved and seen and valued in a world where there is still a cloak of invisibility for us dark chocolate girls.”
Credit: ABC via Getty Images.