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Actress Cicely Tyson has spent most of her life telling vital stories onscreen.
The story of a Black womans rise from Harlem to the height of Hollywood should prove just as inspiring.
The lesson, I know now, is to relish the ride, she offers readers.
Miles Davis was in a robe the first time they met.
Dont go too crazy imagining this encounter with the infamous trumpeter.
Id been wary to get involved initially, she recalls.
Spiritual innards, that is.
Tyson once called Lenny Kravitzs mom on him.
What are you all doing over here in my neighborhood?
Were cutting Lennys record.
When she made it back to her apartment, she just had to call his mom.
You hear all that noise?
I said, raising the phones receiver out on the terrace.
Thats your son and daughter-in-law making all of this noise in our neighborhood.
We both just fell out laughing.
She showed Liz Taylor theres more than one queen.
Who else would be brave enough to sueLiz Taylorand still show her face around town?
Cicely sued me, Tyson writes.
She then turned to me and smirked, And how much money did you get?
She snatched Miles Daviss weave and shed do it again.
Even a story as legendary as Tysons is not without its low points.
In the memoir, she revisits her marriage-ending fight with Miles Davis that made headlines.
Im not giving you anything, she sneered.
Why dont you go out and meet your woman?
You know where to meet her.
As she tried to leave, Davis twisted her wrist, so she grabbed his beloved hair weave.
I hurled it onto the ground, marched out the door, and slammed it shut.
She would divorce him a year later, though she remained in his life until his death in 1991.
And she just snatched it right off of my head!
I didnt know whether to laugh or to cringe, which is why I did both.
Tyler Perry pads her paychecks.
Everyones got a tale ofTyler Perrys generosity, but Cicely Tyson might just have them beat.
Hes making her rich in love, too.
Tyson is godmother to Perrys son, Aman.
She had to remeet Denzel Washington on the street.
Who could forget a face like Denzel Washingtons?
A lady as busy and important as Cicely Tyson, okay?
Good afternoon, Ms. Tyson.
My name is Denzel Washington, she recalls him saying.
Oh, I said, thinking,I guess Im supposed to know who he is.
They, too, became family.
Tyson is godmother to their oldest daughter, Katia.
Sorry,John David, you probably have a cool godparent, too.
She hung up on Barack Obama.
Well, technically, she hung up on an aide, but its close!
Oh like, I said laughing, feeling sure it was a prankster talking some foolishness, she writes.
How did you even get this number?
She tried to persuade me that her declaration was true, but I wouldnt hear of it.
Tyson hung up with a click.
