Cicely Tyson First Husband: Who was Kenneth Franklin?

Kenneth Franklin was the first husband of acclaimed American actress Cicely Tyson. Cicely Tyson wrote all about her relationships in her memoir, Just As I Am. And her first serious relationship with Franklin helped shape her life.

“Kenneth had been on my mother’s approved list even before she’d seen him,” Tyson wrote. “He checked the only box that seemed to matter to her: He was the offspring of a reverend.”

Cicely married Kenneth Franklin on December 27, 1942, when she was 18 years old. Two months later, in February 1943, they welcomed a daughter.

As the following year came around, Tyson noted that she started to feel intense regret over her marriage. “I hadn’t ever been in love with Kenneth,” she wrote. “In fact, I had no desire to be married, period, and I’m sure he could feel that.”

Finally, when their daughter was 2, Tyson left Franklin. “Ahead of my departure, I did not tell Kenneth I was leaving the marriage,” she added. “I knew it would shatter him, and it did.” In 1956, the marriage was formally dissolved.