Live Poll: In Memory of Cicely Tyson

This is so sensitively and thoughtfully done and well written. I think the intro is lovely the way it is but if you're afraid it's terse (I don't), there are a few suggested edits below. 

We are saddened by the death of Cicely Tyson, who passed on January 28, 2021, at the age of of 96. Tyson was discovered by a fashion editor at Ebony magazine, rising quickly to the top of the modeling industry and, in 1957, she began acting in Off-Broadway productions. Her career spanned more than seven decades revolving around the African-American experience on stage, film and television.

I also prefer the image poll and think it's quite good. She had so many roles, performances, and films that I remember fondly, especially 'A Trip to the Bountiful,' 'Sounder,' and 'Fried Green Tomatoes,' but I think I'll remember her most for 'The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.' 

FYC:

She was in a short-lived series called "Sweet Justice" that I liked a lot, although I was very young when I watched it. My mother had more sophisticated taste, though, and she watched it religiously. It has received almost no votes (48) but she was nominated for an Emmy for it: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108948/mediaviewer/rm2385383936/

Similarly, she won an Emmy for a TV movie, 'The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All,' that also has very few votes (495): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110721/mediaviewer/rm2971408640/

(It doesn't have any images with her in it, unfortunately.)

There are some other award nominated roles which do have images. Perhaps they might be more significant than some of the roles without images, even if they have fewer IMDb votes?

The River Niger

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0075145/mediaviewer/rm3439628800/

A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077669/mediaviewer/rm3480330753/

The Marva Collins Story

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082719/mediaviewer/rm417164288/

The Road to Galveston

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117492/mediaviewer/rm3933689344/

Relative Stranger

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1252330/mediaviewer/rm1114529024/

A Hero Ain't Nothin' but a Sandwich

Live Poll: https://www.imdb.com/poll/prn6OUtEijE/?ref_=po_fp Bravo, Dan!

And Bravo and rest in peace, Ms. Tyson!

Rest in peace, Grand Dame.

Cicely Tyson's passing hit me hard in a way I can't stop thinking about it. I bought Sounder (1972) two days after her passing. I watched YouTube clips of performances, recognitions, and her eulogies of Maya Angelou and Aretha Franklin. I put her memoir on my wish list. 

The most important thing I can remember about Cicely Tyson was her intentional choices of roles that dignified Black women, and how she created memorable characters over a long period of time that brought dignity and respect to Black images on film. She not only innovated a path for a legacy to follow and emulate, she also mentored talent in a way you don't read about anymore. I think of her performance in Sounder (1972) as her definitive performance. She was able to create a dimensional character that audiences could empathize with and see the humanity of Black women and Black families for the first time. It's the performance that if Hollywood was/is less racist, would have gotten recognition. I'm glad she got her flowers from an Honorary Oscar three years before her passing, and delayed recognition is a constant still for Black women in Hollywood. 

All this being said, to me, Cicely Tyson is as legendary as Katharine Hepburn and as iconic as Joan Fontaine. There are still performances of Cicely's I need to see, but Cicely deserves stature in death as she did in life. Cicely would want those who were inspired and follow her professionally to get their flowers while they are here so that they wouldn't wait for elder status for them. 

Her performance in The Marva Collins and The Help were superb. R.I.P. classy lady.   😭