Hollywood is in mourning this week after the award-winning star Cicely Tyson passed away on Thursday. She was 96 years-old.

“I have managed Miss Tyson’s career for over 40 years, and each year was a privilege and blessing,” her manager, Larry Thompson, said in a statement obtained by Variety. “Cicely thought of her new memoir as a Christmas tree decorated with all the ornaments of her personal and professional life. Today she placed the last ornament, a Star, on top of the tree.”

Tyson’s memoir “Just As I Am” was released on Tuesday, and she had spent the days preceding her death doing interviews promoting it.

Born in New York City to West Indian parents in 1924, Tyson got her start on Broadway before breaking into movies in 1959 with the Harry Belafonte film Odds Against Tomorrow. After working steadily in various movies throughout the 1960s, Tyson earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for her work in the 1972 movie Sounder.

In television, Tyson became a household name after starring in the 1974 television movie “Miss Jane Pittman,” in which she played a 110 year-old woman recalling her life. The role was a difficult one, as it forced Tyson to play someone over a nine decade period, but television critic Pauline Kael compared her performance “to the highest, because that’s the comparison she invites and has earned.”

Tyson kept working in film and television right up until her death, and she remained feisty until the end. While accepting a lifetime achievement award from the Alliance for Women in Media in May 2015, Tyson recalled being asked, “Now that you have made it, what else are you going to do?,” to which she responded, “My dear, the day I feel that I have made it, I am finished.”

The New York Times reported that in 2018, when she was 94 years-old, Tyson was awarded an honorary Oscar 46 years after her one nomination. When she took the stage to accept it, Tyson paid tribute to her mother, who had opposed her career as an actress in her youth.

“Mom, I know you didn’t want me to do this, but I did, and here it is,” she said. “I don’t know that I would cherish a better gift than this. This is the culmination of all those years of have and have-not.”

"When the time comes, what do you want us to remember about you?" — @GayleKing

"I done my best. That’s all." — @IAmCicelyTyson #RIP to the legendary Miss Cicely Tyson. ❤️ https://t.co/wICaRwVBj9 pic.twitter.com/rQUu98WbvH

— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) January 29, 2021