NEW YORK — Cicely Tyson, who returned to Broadway this season for the first time in 30 years, has taken home the Tony Award for best leading actress in a play. Did you know that Cicely Tyson’s parents are from St. Kitts/Nevis? Her father arrived in New York City at the age of 21 and was processed at Ellis Island on August 4, 1919.
In Horton Foote’s “The Trip to Bountiful,” Tyson plays a widow in 1953 whose only desire is to revisit her old home in Bountiful and recapture purpose she lost when she left for Houston.
Tyson, 88, beat out Laurie Metcalf, Amy Morton, Kristine Nielsen and Holland Taylor.
Tyson was nominated for an Oscar for her role in “Sounder” in 1972. Other film credits include “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “Bustin’ Loose” and “Jefferson in Paris.”
She won Emmys for “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman” and “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All.” She was also nominated for her role in the miniseries “Roots.”
