Everything We Know About Cicely Tyson's Daughter, Joan Tyson

In her autobiography, "Just As I Am," the late Cicely Tyson confirmed that she'd given birth to Joan Tyson in February 1943 with her first husband, Kenneth Franklin. However, she packed up her daughter and left Franklin two years later. In the early years of Joan's life, Tyson was working to achieve a career in Hollywood while working multiple jobs to provide for the two. However, while living in New York City, Tyson made the painful decision to send Joan to a boarding school. While she did not elaborate on where the institution was, Tyson did suggest it was very far from her.

"I do not regret that I chose to earn a living in the manner in which I did or that I arranged for Joan to attend school in a world miles north of mine. But I do mourn that my child, during the years she hungered to have me close, felt my absence so profoundly," Tyson wrote (via People).

Still, even Tyson recognized that the distance placed a strain on them. This was something she spent much time repairing until the day she died. Tyson admitted, "Joan and I continue to work on our relationship, as fragile as it is precious, and even as I write of her in my story, I leave space for her to one day share her own."