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• Article on Ms. Tyson
• Because of Winn-Dixie
• Diary of a Mad Black Woman
• Madea's Family Reunion
• Cicely Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts
• Ms. Tyson's bio

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Tavis: I am honored to have the legendary actress Cicely Tyson here tonight. The 3-time Emmy winner made history back in 1963 when she became the first African-American woman with a leading role in a television drama. She went on to achieve great success in TV and film, including, as you'll recall, an Oscar nomination for her role in 'Sounder.' Still love that movie. This month you can catch her in two new films--you've been busy, huh? 'Because of Winn-Dixie,' in theaters now, and the second film, 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman,' which opens this weekend. Here now a scene from 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman.'

Madea: 'Cause I remember this man did me wrong. Honey, I didn't even know how mad I was until I got this about his funeral. He had died.

Helen: Why were you so mad at him?

Madea: 'Cause he hit me. Yes, he did. He hit me. And he is 8 feet under.

Myrtle: 6 feet under. That's where they bury folk--6 feet.

Madea: That's what I'm trying to tell you. I thought I was over what the man had done to me till I saw him laying in that casket. The man was dead, and I got mad all over again. I beat him down 2 more feet! I was mad.

Tavis: Tyler Perry is funny, isn't he?

Cicely Tyson: I'm telling you.

Tavis: That boy is something else. Nice to see you.

Tyson: Good to see you.

Tavis: And you look wonderful.

Tyson: Thank you.

Tavis: Um, I don't where to start. There's so much to talk to you about. Let me start with--somebody told me that you were at Ossie Davis' funeral. I missed you.

Tyson: Yes, I was. Uh, I could not have missed that one. I--actually, I had been away. I'd been in, uh, Thailand, and I flew back to the states, flew to Washington to attend something at the White House, and came back in time for the wake, which was held at Abyssinian, which is my church. Uh, I hadn't heard the news until I returned to the states. It was late at night. I had my niece with me. She checked with her mom to let her know that we were safe, and her mother told her. And I tell you, it was, uh, devastating. It totally immobilized me because he was a man that I had the good fortune to work with the first television show I ever did. He played my father in it.

Tavis: Wow.

Tyson: The very first one. It was called 'Brown Girl, Brownstones,' and it was based on the novel that was written by Paule Marshall. And the very first thing he said to me was, "Don't act, just be." And that I've carried with me my whole entire career.

Tavis: Indeed, you have, which is a fascinating way to begin this conversation because you've done that so remarkably well, and yet for those who don't know your story--I don't want to put this the wrong way--you almost--let me put it this way. You stumbled--my phrase, not yours--it seems to me that you stumbled into your calling. You are as fine a thespian as I've ever met, as has ever hit the stage or the screen, and yet you were a typist, and somebody had to talk you into this. Tell me the story of how you stumbled into doing this with Ossie Davis.

Tyson: I was a typist and, uh, I one day was sitting--I worked for a social agency--and I was typing up a case history, and it dealt with incest, and I was so disturbed by the subject matter that I remember pushing myself away from the desk, and I announced to the world that I was sure that God did not put me on the face of this earth to bang on a typewriter for the rest of my life. I said, "I know there is something else for me to do. I don't know what it is right now, but I'm going to find it." That afternoon when I was through at the office, I went to have my hair done. My hairdresser was having a hairstyle show, and he asked me if I wanted to participate. And I said, "Sure." So, I became one of his models. I pranced up and down this ramp like I had no sense because I had no idea what I was doing. I was just having a ball just up and down this ramp. And when it was over, people came to me and asked for my agent's number. They wanted to hire me. I said, "I don't...'

Tavis: What agent? Yeah.

Tyson: I just did this for fun. Yeah, 'I just did this for fun." They said, "You're not a model?" I said, "No." "Well, you should be." I said, "How do you do that?" And they told me I'd go to school, register, which I did, and I became a model. And it was while I was out on an interview for a modeling assignment that this woman who was an actress--God bless her--if it were not for her, I probably would not be sitting here talking to you. She had been up for the role of a mother in an independent movie called 'The Spectrum'--

Tavis: I'm amazed you remember all these details, but go ahead.

Tyson: Everybody says that, but it's part of my life. How could I not remember it?

Tavis: All right, go ahead.

Tyson: And she said, um, to the editor, "That young lady who just sashayed out of here looks exactly like the type they want to play the ingénue." So the editor called me and I said, "I don't know anything about acting." I hung up the phone. She called me back. And she kept calling me. And I was at my job, right? She said, um, "Look, do me a favor. Just go see the man." I said, "Don't call me here anymore. You're gonna make me lose my job. I will go see him." And I went and, uh, he handed me what I now know to be a script and he said, "You read this character and I'll read this." And I just--instinctively, I did the right thing, and I got hired for the job.

Tavis: Tell me what you make of the fact these many years later as you look back on this, since you recall all these details, what do you make of the fact that something that you seem born to do you had again to be pulled into?

Tyson: It's true of everything that, you know, I--

Tavis: You get pulled into everything, huh?

Tyson: Because I don't assume that because people think that I am capable of doing something. You know, you never see yourself as others see you, right? But I am. If I don't feel that I am qualified, I'm not going to do it. And actually, what happened was we started shooting that movie, we ran out of money, and so we stopped. I went back to what I was doing. A year later, they called me and asked me to come back. They had raised some more money for a new film. I said, "No, I don't want to do that." He said to me, "Why not?" I said, "Because I don't know what I'm doing." He said, "But you're so talented." I said, "You know that. I don't know that."

Tavis: Well, now we all know that. 3 Emmy nominations later, an Oscar nomination later. You were nominated in the year that the record was set for 3 African-Americans--since you remember the details, let's see what you remember. It was you...

Tyson: Diana Ross and Paul Winfield.

Tavis: You do remember everything. So the 3 of you were nominated in the same year. What year was this?

Tyson: 1970...

Tavis: 2?

Tyson: No, because 'Sounder' was done in 1970.

Tavis: Right.

Tyson: So it had to be 1971.

Tavis: OK.

Tyson: I did 'Jane Pittman' in 1972.

Tavis: So you remember. I love this. OK, so you set the record. You were part of the record set that year for 3 African-Americans being nominated. Fast forward. This year, 5 African-Americans are nominated. The record of 3 has finally been broken. What do you make of the Oscar nominations? I shouldn't say African-Americans because the sister from 'Hotel Rwanda' is not actually an African-American, but 5 persons of African descent nominated this year. What do you make of--is that progress all these many years later?

Tyson: Well, Tavis, honestly, I hope the day will come when that no longer gets to be an issue, that it is the norm and not an oddity. I mean, this is 2005. Why are we still saying, "Well, it's the first time that 5 African-Americans or blacks have been nominated for the Oscar"? Why are we still saying that?

Tavis: It's a legitimate question. Let me ask you--let me flip it, then--is that going to happen in your lifetime, my lifetime, anybody's lifetime?

Tyson: I would like to believe that it's possible. I would hate to think that I would leave here and it's not an accepted fact.

Tavis: Well, you ain't leavin' no time soon, and as a matter of fact, while you're here, you're still working. What made you do not one--I mean, you've done some TV stuff, but you're very discriminating. I love that about you. You take your time, choose what you want to do, work in your own space and time along with all the other humanitarian work that you do, uh, but something got your interest up to do at least two projects at the same time. How did this happen--two movies at the same time?

Tyson: Well, that happens with me all the time. It's either feast or famine. I never get one project that immediately after I'm put in a position where I have to make a choice or my agent is able to convince them that I can do them both if we can arrange the time. So, it really wasn't a surprise to me when the second one came. I got 'Winn-Dixie' first, and I didn't think I was going to get that job because I was asked to go on camera for the director because he was working in New Orleans and couldn't see me. I offered to fly and meet him. They said, "No, we want you on camera." Which is for me--I'm not a person who can audition or do an interview for a piece because I have to have the substance of the character in me before I can talk about it. So, I left that, uh, interview very upset, so disturbed I went home, I went to bed, and I didn't get out of bed for 2 days. That they called me and told me that I had the job was an absolute source of amazement to me.

Tavis: I'm glad because after all these years, you still don't think you're good enough to do this stuff.

Tyson: Well, the fact of the matter is people say that all the time. But the fact that I have done the body of work that people feel has been substantial doesn't mean that when I am asked--you have to remember at least from my point of view that when I try to enter the being of another human, that's a new person to me. And what I try to do is invade their whole being. And that's a challenge every time.

Tavis: This is like a master class sitting here talking with Cicely Tyson. I don't have nearly enough time to talk to you, but I am not gonna let you get out of here. You have a school that's being built and named after you.

Tyson: Well, I have a school--now, here's another resistive example--I received a call from my agent one day telling me that he had received a call from a woman named Laura Trimmings, who was the principal of a public school in East Orange, New Jersey, and they wanted to name the school in my honor. They decided--the public school system in New Jersey--that they wanted the schools named after a live person who could serve as a role model for their students. And they unanimously voted for me. I said, "No." So, he told her, "No." Well, the woman was persistent. For one solid year, she wouldn't give up. And finally, I had a relative who taught school in Montclair, New Jersey, and she said to me, "You know, you really ought to let them do that." I said, "Why?" She said because, when your father first came to America, he came to live with his older brother, who was her father. The house they lived in is 6 blocks away from the school. And I said, "Well, now I know why I should do it." Full cycle.

Tavis: The web site to learn more about the school is www...Eastorange.k12.nj...New Jersey--

Tyson: Yes.

Tavis: Us. Eastorange.k12.nj.us. You know, my producer's always giving me these blue cards, which I rarely pay attention to. I'm sorry. They gave me 2 blue cards full of stuff about you, and I've mentioned one thing on these 2 blue cards. So...

Tyson: That means you have a lot going in your head.

Tavis: Yeah, I know, a lot going on in your life, so you have to come back so we can do this again.

Tyson: I would love to do it.

Tavis: I love you dearly.

Tyson: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And thanks for the support over the years.

Tavis: And you deserve it, and I'll keep supporting you.

Tyson: All right.

Tavis: She is a legend in her own time, Cicely Tyson. That's our show for tonight. I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles. Thanks for watching and, as always, keep the faith.