Celebrity Graveland

December 19, 1924 – January 28, 2021

A legend of the stage and screen, Cicely Tyson was a trailblazing performer whose career spanned more than 70 years. Born and raised in New York City, Tyson wanted to be an actor from an early age. She was brought up in a religious home and her parents were initially reluctant for her to enter the profession…until they saw her perform.

Tyson studied under the renowned acting coach, Lee Strassberg. She got her first part at a YMCA production of Dark of the Moon. In 1961, she appeared in Jean Genet’s The Blacks opposite an array of future stars including Louis Gossett, Jr., Maya Angelou, Roscoe Lee Brown and an actor Tyson would go on to perform with many times over the decades, James Earl Jones. The Blacks ran off-Broadway for a record-setting 1,408 performances.

Dozens of credits followed, culminating with Tyson winning the Tony award in 2013 for her run in Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful. At the age of 88, she was the oldest performer to ever win the award for best actress in a play.

On screens both large and small, audiences savored a plethora of Tyson roles over the years. In 1972, Tyson arrived in Hollywood with a star-making performance in the film, Sounder. She was nominated for both an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her performance. She won the first of her 3 Emmys for her groundbreaking role in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974). She was nominated for an additional 13 Emmys over the course of her career.

In her later career, Tyson appeared in a number of classic movies like Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Diary of a Mad Black Woman (1995) and the Screen Actors Guild Award-winning The Help (2011). Her final appearance on Broadway was – again – opposite James Earl Jones in the 2016 revival of The Gin Game.

Cicely Tyson was married twice, most notably to jazz musician, Miles Davis. The two were together for a tumultuous 22-year relationship. They were finally married in 1981, but she filed for divorce in 1989, just 2 years before Davis’ death. Tyson would work for another 30 years and live to the laudable age of 96.

Burial

Woodlawn Cemetery – Bronx NY

Specific Location

Alpine Plot;  On a point of land at the intersection of Heather Ave. and Fir Ave., Cicely is buried with her former husband, Miles Davis. Just across Heather Ave. from Duke Ellington.

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