Cicely Tyson, , Hollywood Icon, Dead at 96.br The distinguished theater, film and br television personality died on Thursday.br Tyson's manager, Larry Thompson, released abr statement following her death, calling herbr a “privilege and blessing” to work with. .br Cicely thought of her new memoirbr as a Christmas tree decorated withbr all the ornaments of her personal andbr professional life. Today she placed thebr last ornament, a Star, on top of the tree, Larry Thompson, via 'Variety'.br Tyson first broke into film in 1959 with thebr Harry Belafonte movie, ‘Odds Against Tomorrow.’.br She went on to star in ‘The Comedians,’br ‘The Last Angry Man,’ ‘A Man Called Adam’br and ‘The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.’.br Tyson made her return tobr the screen in 1972 with thebr film ‘Sounder,’ which earnedbr her an Oscar nominationbr for best actress. .br She was nominated a total ofbr 16 times in her career. .br Much of Tyson’s career took place on television,br in shows such as ‘Roots,’ ‘The Wilma Rudolph Story’br and ‘The Women of Brewster Place.’.br She won two Emmys for her role in the 1974br show, ‘The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman.’ .br She won another in 1995 for best supporting actressbr in ‘Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.’.br Tyson also had a blooming on-stagebr career. She was one of the originalbr cast members in ‘The Blacks’ in 1961. .br She went on to star in ‘Moon on a Rainbowbr Shawl,’ ‘Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright’ andbr ‘A Hand Is at the Gate.’.br In 2013, she won the Tony for best actress for herbr starring role in the revival of ‘A Trip to Bountiful.