On this day in 1924, Emmy winner Cicely Tyson was born in Harlem

Dec. 19, 1924

Three-time Emmy winner Cicely Tyson was born in Harlem, New York. She became the first Black actor to appear as a series regular on a prime-time dramatic television series and in 1974 became the first Black actress to win an Emmy. 

Raised by her Caribbean parents, she was discovered by a fashion editor at Ebony magazine. She became a top model and began acting. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1972 film, “Sounder.” And two years later, she received an Emmy Award for her portrayal of a 110-year-old former slave in “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.” At age 88, she became the oldest person to win an acting Tony for her performance in “The Trip to Bountiful,” and the Kennedy Center honored her a year later. 

Tyson performed on Broadway alongside James Earl Jones in “The Gin Game,” and in 2016, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. 

In 2018, three years before her death, she received an honorary Oscar at the age of 94. “I think when you begin to think of yourself as having achieved something, then there’s nothing left for you to work towards,” she said in accepting the award. “I want to believe that there is a mountain so high that I will spend my entire life striving to reach the top of it.”