Cicely Tyson Honoured With Peabody Career Achievement Award

Per THR, the legendary actress has been honoured with this year’s Peabody career achievement award. And speaking about why she was selected, the Peabody Awards praised Tyson for “transforming how African Americans are considered on and off screen,” calling her a “foundational figure in the advancement of meaningful programming and social change through her performances.”

Tyson has received three Emmys, a Tony, a Kennedy Center Honor and an honorary Oscar. She was nominated for a best actress Oscar for her role in 1972’s Sounder.

Celebrating her, Oprah Winfrey thanked Tyson for “not just paving the way for me and every other black woman who dared to have a career in entertainment, but being the way—standing for the truth in your art in all ways. And allowing us to be lifted by the light of your illustrious life.”

Peabody executive director Jeffrey P. Jones added, “Cicely Tyson’s uncompromising commitment to using her craft to address the big issues of her time—gender equality, racial and social justice, equity and inclusion—places her in rare company. And she did so when speaking up and speaking out invited stigma, isolation, and retribution. She was a seminal figure of her time, and ahead of her time.”

And the Peabody board of jurors said in a statement, “With her award-winning performances, Tyson has taught us to champion a world of possibility for social justice, creativity, vitality, and joy. Through her career, she has demonstrated the importance of imagining human freedom, the power of struggle, the grace of sacrifice, and the importance of witnessing in a nation desperate to reckon with itself. Her powerful command of her craft and her lifelong dedication to make work that entertains and challenges helps us find our ethical and moral bearings, inviting us to ponder the qualities that make for an ethical and moral life.”