The tributes to this magnificent presence poured in on Twitter in response to Cicely Tyson’s death. BET News host Marc Lamont Hill tweeted, “Words like ‘trailblazer,’ ‘genius,’ and ‘legend’ are shamefully insufficient when describing Ms. Tyson.” Legendary newscaster Dan Rather tweeted, “She defined the role of star actor on her terms, and made the arts and America better for it. Her performances were powerful and enchanting. They stuck with you long after the credits ran or the curtain dropped.”
Many of the Black actors and creators she worked with also had an outpouring of emotion. LeVar Burton, who played Tyson’s son Kunta Kinte in 1977’s Roots, tweeted a photo with the words “Elegance, warmth, beauty, wisdom, style and abundant grace. She was as regal as they come.” Tyler Perry, with whom Tyson did several movies, posted on Instagram, “This one brought me to my knees! She was the grandmother I never had and the wisdom tree that I could always sit under to fill my cup.” Shonda Rhimes — who provided Tyson with five of her 16 career Emmy nominations for her role as Viola Davis‘s mother on How to Get Away With Murder – reacted with shock, simply saying: “I really need this not to be true.”
But Davis had more to say, including a fitting tribute to Tyson’s activism and rule breaking: “You made me feel loved and seen and valued in a world where there is still a cloak of invisibility for us dark chocolate girls.”
