Legendary actress Cicely Tyson, whose career spans 65 years, is one of eight chosen to grace the cover of Elle magazine’s annual “Women in Hollywood” issue.
In the issue, which hits newsstands on Oct. 17, Tyson speaks of her female influences:
“At the very beginning of my career, I had a teacher whose name was Vinnette Carroll; she directed a number of Broadway shows. She kept saying to me, ‘you know the problem with beautiful women? They tend to rely on their beauty.’ And I said, how wrong she is! I never think of myself as being beautiful. I thought, what are you talking about? I work so hard. And I did. But I learned from her how important it is to learn your craft. When all else fails, you will land on that, and that alone.”
The Harlem-born Tyson, 92, was nominated for both Oscar and Golden Globe awards in the category of Best Actress for her role as Rebecca Morgan in the 1972 movie “Sounder.” She continues working and producing work on several projects, most recently in Shonda Rhimes’ “How to Get Away with Murder” and in the Netflix series “House of Cards.”