Actress Cicely Tyson Visits CBS SUNDAY MORNING Today

Critically praised actress Cicely Tyson has often chosen the roles she's played during a long career for what they contributed to the national dialogue on Civil Rights, she says in an interview for CBS SUNDAY MORNING WITH Charles Osgood to be broadcast today, April 14, 2013 (9:00 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network.

"I wanted to address certain issues, and I chose to use my career as my platform," Tyson tells Lee Cowan.

She does that, she says, by ruling out certain roles, which she adds, are "the type that you know is great for making money for producers, but does nothing to enhance the race itself, or women."

Tyson's latest part is in the Broadway production of Horton Foote's "The Trip to Bountiful." Tyson tells Cowan she was haunted by the 1986 performance of Geraldine Page in the film version of "The Trip to Bountiful" and knew she had to take the Broadway part when it came her way.

Tyson's career has spanned the stage, film and television and helped influence a new generation of actors. For example, Vanessa Williams tells Cowan Tyson's Emmy-winning performance in the TV movie "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" Made her want to get into acting. "Her image was part of what educated us about slavery, about Jim Crow, about her experiences as a black woman that she portrayed, you know, beautifully in the pieces and in the work that she did."

Asked if she thinks she's Made a difference, Tyson says she hopes she has. "I hope so," she tells Cowan. "I'm told so every day. And that's very rewarding. It's very satisfying."

Cowan's interview with Tyson will be broadcast today, April 14, 2013 on CBS SUNDAY MORNING. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.