Tyson, Cicely

1933 - Born on December 19th in Harlem, New York. Cicely Tyson owes her career to a good haircut. In a beauty salon, her hairdresser asked Tyson to model at a hairstyle show.

1957 - Tyson made her stage debut in a YMCA production of Dark of the Moon, and her first film was an uncredited role in Carib Gold with Ethel Waters.

1963 - She played George C. Scott's secretary in a gritty drama about social workers in Harlem, East Side/West Side.

1966 - She joined The Guiding Light, becoming one of the first black actresses to win a regular role on a soap opera.

1972 - She starred with Paul Winfield in Sounder, and was nominated for an Oscar.

1974 - She won Emmys for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. She has also played Coretta Scott King and Harriet Tubman.

1977 - Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame.

1981 - Married to Miles Davis on November 26th.

1983 - Tyson appeared on Broadway in a production of The Corn Is Green which was poorly reviewed and closed after only two weeks. She was fired when she took a night off to attend a tribute to her then-husband, jazz musician Miles Davis.

         - Tyson sued the producers, maintaining that she was entitled to payment in full as stipulated in her contract, about $750,000. The case and appeals took 15 years, but Tyson won.

1997 - Earned her Hollywood Walk of Fame. on August 21st.