Hundreds Gather To Say Goodbye To Cicely Tyson In Harlem

Hundreds of admirers of the legendary actress and activist Cicely Tyson had a chance to say their final goodbyes in Harlem on Monday. 

According to the New York Post, on Feb. 15, hundreds gathered to view  the award winning icon  at the Abyssinian Baptist Church.  Masks and social distancing were required by the family, and photographs were not allowed.

A private memorial service and burial service is being held today (Feb. 16).

On Jan. 28, it was reported that Cicely Tyson passed away at the age of 96. Her cause of death is not known.

In 1951, Tyson made her television acting debut on an NBC series called Frontiers of Faith. Her breakthrough role came In 1972, with her portrayal of sharecropping mother and wife Rebecca Morgan in Sounder. The role earned her Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

Tyson won three Emmys; two for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) and one for The Oldest Living Confederate Widow (1994). In 2013, Tyson conquered Broadway at 88 years old and won her first Tony Award for The Trip to Bountiful. 

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A new generation of Black Hollywood had the opportunity to work closely with Tyson in her final years. She was a scene stealer on the hit NBC show How to Get Away With Murder playing the mother to Viola Davis’ character for five years (2015-2020). She also co-starred in several Tyler Perry films, including the psychological Netflix thriller A Fall From Grace in early 2020.

That same year, Tyson played retired actress Miss Luma Lee Langston on Ava Duvernay’s OWN project Cherish the Day.

She received an Oscar in 2018, an honorary award for her lifetime’s body of work.

Tyson released her final work, a memoir, on (Jan. 26), with Just As I Am. The book focuses on her life and the highlights of her career that spanned seven decades.