Celebrities Are Remembering How Cicely Tyson Paved The Way For Black Women In Hollywood

Cicely Tyson’s career was an inspiration on and off the screen, so after the 96-year-old Hollywood icon died Thursday the tributes to her came pouring in.

“I really need this not to be true,” Shonda Rhimes, the prolific producer and screenwriter, wrote on Twitter. Tyson had a memorable recurring role on Rhimes’ show How To Get Away With Murder.

Rhimes then followed with a tribute to Tyson, the legendary actor who forged a path for Black women in the industry with nuanced characters throughout a 70-year career that earned her Emmy and Tony awards.

“She was an extraordinary person,” Rhimes wrote. “She had so much to teach. And I still have so much to learn.”

Actor Zendaya also mourned the loss of the acting icon.

“This one hurts,” Zendya wrote.”

“You paved the way,” Actor Tracie Thoms noted.

“You made me feel loved and seen and valued in a world where there is still a cloak of invisibility for us dark chocolate girls,” Viola Davis wrote. “You have me permission to dream.”

Others who had also gotten a chance to work with Tyson remembered her as tireless throughout the course of a 70-year career.

In a series of pictures, rapper and actor Common noted Tyson’s influence throughout her career, not just on the screen, but in fashion and culture.

Just two days before her death, Tyson’s memoir Just As I Am was published. In an interview with CBS This Morning‘s Gayle King, Tyson discussed her life and legacy as she promoted the book.

On Thursday, King posted a portion of the interview and thanked the trailblazing actor.

Others noted the barriers that were broken down by Tyson’s work, especially for Black women. Her portrayals of nuanced characters and elegant presence on screen were both an inspiration and a force for change.

Bernice King, the youngest of Martin Luther King Jr.’s children, also honored the actor.

“What a vessel,” she wrote.