01/04/2021

In her spirited debut memoir， actor Tyson recalls her extraordinary life， as well as the racial and gender stereotyping， movie-business prejudice， and ill-behaved men that shaped her seven-decade career。 Tyson highlights her lifelong penchant for rebelling against convention and injustice， from speaking up against her straitlaced West Indian mother and her abandonment of an early marriage （an ordeal of “tedium and regret”） to fighting off an attempted sexual assault by acting teacher Paul Mann。 She also discusses the importance of pushing back against excessive workplace demands。 （“When the show’s director would not grant me the time off， I took it anyway。”） The memoir dives deep into Tyson’s reflections on how her performances affected audiences and fans， noting how “deeply satisfying” it was to hear from “those who approached me， tears in their eyes， to say how had touched them。” She also provides an intimate glimpse into her stormy marriage to jazz maestro Miles Davis， which ended in divorce。 （“I felt no need to drape words on the hanger of inevitability。 The marriage had long since been over。”） It’s in these poignant moments that the memoir becomes a resonant meditation on the link between an actress’s life and her art。 This showstopping tale hits the mark。 （Jan。）

Ms。 Cicely Tyson is an actress， lecturer， activist， and one of the most respected talents in American theater and film history。 From her starring role on Broadway in The Blacks （1961）， to the Emmy-nominated 1999 HBO film A Lesson Before Dying， her work has garnered critical and commercial applause for more than sixty years。 Her two Emmys for The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman made her the first African-American woman to win an Emmy for Best Actress。 In 2013， Ms。 Tyson won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as Miss Carrie Watts in The Trip to Bountiful。 A capstone achievement came in 2018， when she became the first Black woman to receive an honorary Oscar。 The Board of Governors voted unanimously to honor her with the award， which came 45 years after her Academy Award nominated performance in Sounder。