American actress Cicely Tyson passed away on Thursday morning (local time) at the age of 96, reports Variety. The actress won several Emmy and Tony Awards in her lifetime.
Tyson made her film debut with small rolls of film in, among others Twelve Angry Men (1957), Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) in The Comedians (1967).
The actress stood out in the late 1960s because she did not want to play in blaxploitation films, which were made specifically for a black audience and in which black actors played the lead roles. As a result, it took a few years before she could find work again.
In 1972 she finally returned to the silver screen with the drama film Sounder, for which she received an Oscar nomination for best actress.
In addition to films, Tyson was also regularly seen in television and theater roles. Her last roles were in the American series How to Get Away with Murder in Cherish the Day. She guest-starred in another 2016 House of Cards.
Tyson refused in her career to play roles she saw as demeaning to black women, such as drug addicts, prostitutes, and maids. The actress was married between 1981 and 1988 to jazz legend Miles Davis, who died in 1991.
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