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ON THIS LAND, we have learned that the beloved Cicely Tyson has transitioned and is now an ancestor we will never forget! The 96-year-old veteran has graced our screens for 7 decades and was just as good as her last performance she gave us. From small roles to Broadway to the big screen, Ms. Tyson always gave it her all in any role she was given and delivered with such grace.
Cicely Tyson has opened the door for the black community since the beginning, with becoming the first African American to star in a television drama, the 1963 series called East Side/West Side. Cicely even had an impact on social media with her iconic scene alongside Maya Rudolph in the Tyler Perry film Diary of a Mad Black Woman.
Let’s go through 7 decades of greatness as I choose my top 5 most iconic roles of Cicely Tyson
5. Sounder
Cicely portrayed Rebecca, a strong and loving wife and sharecropper who was determined to keep her family together while her husband Nathan Lee, portrayed by Paul Winfield, was in jail for stealing a ham to feed the starving family. Rebecca initially wasn’t for Cicely Tyson as they wanted her to play the schoolteacher. Tyson has stated in an interview with the American Film Institute that she wanted to play a “more challenging” role and although the film execs passed on her playing Rebecca in the…