Just Cuz She Makes Me Smile...MS. TYSON!!

Cicely Tyson. You recognize her. You know she's flyy. You know she's outstanding. But do you know why?

Ms. Cicely Tyson was born and raised in Harlem, NYC, in 1933, the daughter of Theodosia (a domestic) and William Tyson (a pushcart operator), immigrants from the island of Nevis of Saint Kitts and Nevis in the WI. She married Miles Davis in '81, and they were together until '88. She is an honorary member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.

She was discovered by a photographer for Ebony Magazine and became a popular fashion model. You know her from Guiding Light, an off-Broadway show called The Blacks (with james earl Jones, Maya Angelou, and Louis Gossett, Jr.) In 1972, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Sounder, and in '74 she won TWO Emmy's for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (holler that she was the 1st to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a television movie). She played in Roots, and portrayed Coretta Scott King in King. She also won THIRD Emmy for her role in Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.

Some of Ms. Tyson's recent roles have been in Idlewild, Because of Winn-Dixie and Diary of a Mad Black Woman, and Madea's Family Reunion. Ms. Tyson has made a note to ONLY portray strong Black women in her roles, stating, "Challenges make you discover things about yourself that you never really knew. They're what make the instrument stretch-what make you go beyond the norm." "The choices of roles I made had to do with educating and entertaining. And as a result I found myself working only every two or three years."

Much Respect.