Cicely Tyson

Had a daughter in February 1943. This was kept a secret until Tyson's memoir was published in January 2021. Choosing to keep her daughter's real name private, she refers to her in the book as "Joan".

Cicely Tyson was born in Harlem, New York City, where she was raised by her devoutly religious parents, from the Caribbean island of Nevis. Her mother, Theodosia, was a domestic, and her father, William Tyson, was a carpenter and painter. She was discovered by a fashion editor at Ebony magazine and, with her stunning looks, she quickly rose to the top of the modeling industry. In 1957, she began acting in Off-Broadway productions.

Was only 23 years younger than Louis Armstrong, who played her grandfather in A Man Called Adam (1966).

She had small roles in feature films before she was cast as Portia in The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968).

Four years later, Cicely was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her sensational performance in the critically acclaimed film Sounder (1972).

In 1974, she went on to portray a 110-year-old former slave in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974), which earned her two Emmy Awards.

George Cukor found her very difficult to work with on The Blue Bird (1976), subsequently describing her, diplomatically, as "greatly gifted, but not a comedienne".

Inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1977.

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).

Tyson won a judgment entitling her to full payment ($750,000) for her appearance in the short-lived 1983 Broadway play "The Corn Is Green". An Appeals Court upheld an earlier ruling handed down in 1996 in favor of Tyson. She was under contract to producer Elizabeth Taylor 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.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on August 21, 1997.

According to the New York Times, when Ms. Tyson won a Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for "The Trip to Bountiful" on June 9, 2013, she became the oldest person ever to win an acting Tony.

Pictured on a $3.25 postage stamp issued by her parents' native island of Nevis on 1 January, 2014.

She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, by President Barack Obama, in a live televised ceremony held in the East Room of the White House, on November 22, 2016, along with twenty other recipients, the the largest, and final Medal of Freedom ceremony of Obama's presidency. At this ceremony, the twenty-one recipients, in alphabetical order, included: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Elouise Cobell (posthumous award given to her son), Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Richard Garwin, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Frank Gehry, Margaret Hamilton (as Margaret H. Hamilton), Tom Hanks, Rear Admiral Grace Hopper (posthumous award given to her niece), Michael Jordan, Maya Lin, Lorne Michaels, Newton Minow, Eduardo Padron (as Eduardo Padrón), Robert Redford, Diana Ross, Vin Scully, Bruce Springsteen, and Cicely Tyson.

(September 6, 2018) Was announced as one of the recipients of this year's honorary Oscars by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She make history at the Governors Awards as the first black woman to receive an Oscar in the honorary award category.