Tyler Perryâs tribute to Cicely Tyson champions an icon who was âalways a queenâ
Prolific producer and director Tyler Perry, a longtime collaborator of screen legend Cicely Tyson, celebrated the late actressâ trailblazing career with a touching video highlighting some of her best performances.
Perry, who worked with Tyson on titles such as âMadeaâs Family Reunion,â âAlex Crossâ and âDiary of a Mad Black Woman,â uploaded the minute-long montage Friday after penning a heartfelt tribute to the Emmy and Tony winner on social media. Tyson, who also won an honorary Oscar in 2019, died Thursday at 96.
âI was sitting at the table working when I got this overwhelming feeling to watch [Tysonâs âThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.â],â Perry wrote on Thursday. âNot 12 minutes into the movie my phone rang. It was Oprah calling to tell me that Cicely had died. 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.â
In Perryâs video, posted Friday, he and Tyson can be seen sharing a long embrace and joking around outside the Dream Building at Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. Interwoven is footage of Tyson performing in âCarib Goldâ (1956), âSounderâ (1972), âRootsâ (1977), âA Man Called Adamâ (1966), âMission: Impossibleâ (1970), âI Spyâ (1965-66) and other projects.
âMy heart breaks in one beat, while celebrating her life in the next,â Perry continued in Thursdayâs social media remembrance. âTo think that she lived for 96 years and I got to be a part of the last 16 brings me great joy. She called me son. Well, today your son grieves your loss and will miss our long talks, your laughter from your belly, and your very presence.
âAlways so regal, always so classy, always a lady, always a queen. Every time we would talk I would ask, âHow are you?â and you would say, âIâm still here. He must have something he wants me to do.â Well, I think itâs safe to say you have done all you were put here to do, and we are all better for it.â
Tysonâs career spanned seven decades with works such as âSounderâ and âThe Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.â
Perry was among several Hollywood luminaries who flocked to social media to honor Tysonâs legacy. Fellow Emmy winner Viola Davis, who played Tysonâs onscreen daughter in the hit TV drama âHow to Get Away With Murder,â gave her costar an emotional sendoff Thursday on Instagram.
âIâm devastated,â Davis wrote. âMy heart is just broken. I loved you so much!! You were everything to me! 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. You gave me permission to dream....because it was only in my dreams that I could see the possibilities in myself.
âIâm not ready for you to be my angel yet. But...I also understand that itâs only when the last person who has a memory of you dies, that youâll truly be dead,â Davis added. âIn that case, you will be immortal. Thank you for shifting my life. Thank you for the long talks. Thank you for loving me. Rest well.â
Tyson spent more than 60 years using her platform not only to garner awards but to challenge stereotypes about what it means to be a Black woman in America.
âHow to Get Away With Murderâ executive producer Shonda Rhimes also saluted Tyson, remembering the pioneering entertainer as âan extraordinary personâ whose âpower and grace will be with us forever.â
â[This] is an extraordinary loss,â Rhimes tweeted. âShe had so much to teach. And I still have so much to learn. I am grateful for every moment.â
Another of Tysonâs many collaborators, groundbreaking filmmaker Ava DuVernay, shared a sweet collage of photos hugging her friend and colleague. DuVernay and Tyson most recently joined forces for the formerâs OWN series, âCherish the Day.â
âYour hugs Iâll remember,â DuVernay tweeted on Thursday. âHow your petite arms wrapped around me like mighty branches of a sunlit tree, strong and warm. Your love Iâll remember. You loved me for some reason and told me often. Thank you, Your Majesty. And bless you as you journey ahead. Until we meet again...â
TV mogul Oprah Winfrey also remembered Tyson as an artist who âused her career to illuminate the humanity of Black people.â
âCicely decided early on that her work as an actor would be more than a job,â the OWN founder wrote. âThe roles she played reflected her values; she never compromised. Her life so fully lived is a testimony to Greatness.â
And it wasnât just entertainment figures who mourned Tyson. President Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama honored her on social media as well. In 2016, President Obama awarded Tyson the Medal of Freedom.
âWhat struck me every time I spent time with Cicely Tyson was not necessarily her star power â though that was evident enough â it was her humanity,â Michelle Obama wrote. âJust by walking into a room, she had this way of elevating everyone around her. She was the personification of beauty, grace, wisdom, and strength, carrying forward a flame that not only guided her for 96 pathbreaking years but lit the way for so many of us.â
âCicely had a heart unlike any other âââ the kind that would not only beat for 96 more years but leave a mark on the world that few could match,â President Obama wrote. âIn her extraordinary career, Cicely Tyson was one of the rare award-winning actors whose work on the screen was surpassed only by what she was able to accomplish off of it.â
See more reactions to Tysonâs death below.
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