Cicely Tyson’s career has been an inspiration on and off screen, so after the 96-year-old Hollywood icon passed away on Thursday, tribute poured in to her.
“I really need it not to be true,” Shonda Rhimes, the prolific producer and screenwriter, wrote on Twitter. Tyson played a memorable role in the Rhimes show How to get rid of Murder.
Rhimes follows with a tribute to Tyson, the legendary actor who forged a path for black women in the industry with nuanced characters during a 70-year career that earned her Emmy and Tony awards.
“She was an extraordinary person,” Rhimes wrote. “She learned so much. And I still have so much to learn.”
Actor Zendaya also regrets the loss of the acting icon.
“This hurts,” Zendya wrote. ‘
“You paved the way,” actor Tracie Thoms remarked.
“You made me feel loved and seen and appreciated in a world where there is still a cloak of invisibility for our dark chocolate girls,” wrote Viola Davis. “You have my permission to dream.”
Others who also got the chance to work with Tyson remembered her tirelessly over the course of a 70-year career.
In a series of photos, rapper and actor Common Tyson noticed her influence during her career, not only on screen but also in fashion and culture.
Just two days before her death, Tyson’s memoir Just like me has been published. In an interview with CBS this morning‘s Gayle King, Tyson discussed her life and legacy when she promoted the book.
King posted part of the interview on Thursday and thanked the groundbreaking actor.
Others took note of the barriers broken down by Tyson’s work, especially for black women. Her depictions of nuanced characters and elegant on-screen presence were an inspiration and a force for change.
Bernice King, the youngest of Martin Luther King Jr. children, the actor also honored.
“What a vessel,” she wrote.