Cicely L. Tyson is an American actress. She was nominated for the Academy and Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress for her performance as Rebecca Morgan in Sounder . For this role she also won the NSFC Best Actress and NBR Best Actress Awards. She starred in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman , for which she won two Emmy Awards and was nominated for a BAFTA Award.
Tyson was born and raised in Harlem, the daughter of Frederica, a domestic, and William Tyson, who worked as a carpenter, painter, and at any other jobs he could find. Her parents were immigrants from Nevis in the West Indies. Her father arrived in New York City at ageand was processed at Ellis Island on August 4, 1919.
Source: Wikipedia