Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Tyler Perry, Clintons attend memorial for actor Cicely Tyson
NEW YORK >> Tyler Perry and Bill and Hillary Clinton were among the attendees of a private memorial service for Cicely Tyson at Harlem’s famed Abyssinian Baptist Church.
Gospel singer Bebe Winans sang “Stand” — a request from Tyson before her death — and a letter was read by rocker Lenny Kravitz, who was a close friend.
“The ceremony was beautiful,” said Larry Thompson, Tyson’s manager for more than 40 years. “It was very Cicely Tyson: It was formal, it was humorous, it was sad, it was glorious.”
Reporters were not permitted inside, but several mourners stopped to share their thoughts afterward.
Abyssinian Baptist’s pastor, the Rev. Calvin O. Butts, said Tyson was an example of “a life well lived and an example of
how we all might live,” adding, “She was as much an ambassador for peace and love as anybody I can think of.”
He noted that Tyson’s service fell during Black History Month, giving us “another illustration of some of the great people who have contributed to American arts and culture.”
The memorial service Tuesday came a day after hundreds of admirers of the pioneering Black actor lined up outside the church for a public viewing. Some said they had come from as far as Atlanta or Los Angeles to be there.
During the ceremony, the sun broke through the clouds and the temperature rose past 40 for the first time in the snowy city more than a week.
Tyson died Jan. 28. The New York-born actor was 96.