Cicely Tyson

Actress and model Cicely Tyson has been in the industry for more than seven decades. She’s known for portraying strong African-American women. Many of these performances even earned her an award, including three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Tony, and a Peabody Award, making her one of the top icons in the entertainment scene. Throughout the earlier years of her career, Tyson began her journey to stardom as a model before she landed minor roles for films and shows. Soon after, her fame soared to greater heights in the highly-acclaimed film Sounder, thanks to her acting credit for that.

Other projects the actress worked on since then include The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Roots, King, Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story, and How to Get Away with Murder. In 2018, Tyson became the first African-American to receive an honorary Academy Award and was inducted into the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame years after.