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Tyson will give her dramatic reading and answer questions from the audience on Thursday, Feb. 29, from 4 to 5:30 p.m. in the University Student Union Grand Salon in the center of the campus at 18111 Nordhoff St. in Northridge.
"Cicely chooses only those parts that matter -- the characters and stories that stay in our hearts forever," said Adele Scheele, director of Northridge's Center for Career and Leadership Development, which is sponsoring Tyson's appearance. "She will have a lot to share with us on the 29th about how to shape an artful life and how to earn your living doing it."
Tyson is perhaps best know for her performance in "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," in which she played a slave spanning the ages from 19 to 110, and for which she received an unprecedented two Emmys for Best Actress. In addition, she recently won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress for the television movie "The Oldest Confederate Widow Tells All."
Her other prominent performances include the portrayal of Harriet Tubman in the television special "A Woman Called Moses;" Binta, the mother of Kunta Kinte in "Roots;" Marva Collins, the innovative Chicago school teaching, in "Welcome to Success: The Marva Collins Story;" and Coretta Scott King in "King." All those the appearances earned Tyson Emmy nominations.
Among her feature film credits are: "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter," "A Man Called Adam," "The River Niger" and "Fried Green Tomatoes," and "Sounder," for which she won several awards.
Along with Arthur Mitchel, its artistic director, she founded the internationally celebrate ballet company, the Dance Theater of Harlem, now in its 20th year. She currently serves on the DTH board, as well as the boards of the American Film Institute, Urban Gateways the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund among others.