Cicely Tyson (born December 19, 1933) is an award-winning African-American actress. Her parents came from the island of Nevis, but Cicely was born and raised in Harlem, New York City. She was discovered by a photographer for Ebony magazine, and became a popular fashion model. Her first film was an uncredited role in Carib Gold in 1957, but she went on to do television - the celebrated series East Side/West Side and the soap opera The Guiding Light.

In 1967, she appeared in The Comedians, and the following year, had a featured role in The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. In 1972, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the critically acclaimed Sounder.

In 1974 she won two Emmy Awards for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. Other acclaimed television roles included Roots, King , in which she played Coretta Scott King, The Marva Collins Story , When No One Would Listen and Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All (for which she won another Emmy). Currently, Tyson is is co-starring in the movies Because of Winn-Dixie and Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

Tyson co-founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem .

Tyson was married to legendary trumpeter Miles Davis from 1981 to 1988.

Filmography

• Carib Gold (1957)
• Odds Against Tomorrow (1959)
• The Last Angry Man (1959)
• A Man Called Adam (1966)
• The Comedians (1967)
• The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1968)
• Sounder (1972)
• The River Niger (1976)
• The Blue Bird (1976)
• A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich (1978)
• (1979)
• Bustin' Loose (1981)
• Fried Green Tomatoes (1991)
• Flight to Freedom (1995) (documentary)
• Hoodlum (1997)
• The Double Dutch Divas! (2001) (short subject)
• Because of Winn-Dixie (2005)
• Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)