Actress Cicely Tyson Dies At 96

Actress Cicely Tyson sadly passed away on Thursday at 96.

“I have managed Miss Tyson’s career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing,” her manager, Larry Thompson, said in a statement. “Cicely thought of her new memoir as a Christmas tree decorated with all the ornaments of her personal and professional life. Today she placed the last ornament, a Star, on top of the tree.”

Tyson rose to prominence for her role as Rebecca Morgan in Sounder (1972). She was nominated for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her work in the film. Her role in the 1974 television film The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman won her two Emmy Awards and a nomination for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

More recently, she starred as Constantine Jefferson in the award-winning film The Help as well as Ophelia Harkness in the television series, How to Get Away With Murder, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series five times.