Tributes continue to pour in for Cicely Tyson, the pioneering black actress who died yesterday at age 96.
Tyson’s death was announced by her family, via her manager Larry Thompson, who did not provide additional details.
A one-time model, she began her screen career with bit parts but gained fame in the early 1970s when black women were finally starting to get starring roles. Tyson refused to take parts simply for the pay cheque, remaining choosy.
Along with an Oscar nomination, she won two Emmys for playing the 110-year-old former slave in the 1974 television drama The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.
A new generation of moviegoers saw her in the 2011 hit The Help.
