Actress Cicely Tyson won a lifetime achievement award from the Alliance for Women in Media on Tuesday and at age 90, she says her work is not done, according to The Associated Press.

"I actually feel like I have not really achieved that much," Tyson said. "So I look at it as just encouragement to keep going."

In her six-decade career, she has won a Tony and Emmy Award, and she has been nominated for an Academy Award.

Still, as she is honored to accept numerous awards she feels there is more work to be done. "You get me my 'Trip to Bountiful' and I will retire," Tyson said to her agent years ago. Nearly three decades later, Tyson played in it.

After playing the role she won a Tony award for her performance but did not retire as promised. "I did not expect the 'Trip to Bountiful,'" the star told AP. "I was just asking for one more good role."

"But you see where I am now? I'm getting ready to do 'The Gin Game' (on Broadway) with James Earl Jones in the fall," she added.

Tyson was born in New York City and built her acting career by demanding better quality and depth in the roles that she played according to Biography.com. She vowed to never be in it for the money. "I have got to know that I have served some purpose," Tyson said in a 1983 interview.

She is best known for her role in "Roots" and other films like "Sounder" and most recently "The Help." The Emmy Award winner was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame in 1977.

Tyson was kicked out of her home in Harlem when she walked away from a typing job and eventually started acting. Her religious mother said she was choosing a "sinful path" but reconciled their relationship just two years later.

The Alliance for Women in Media celebrated its 40th annual Gracies Awards ceremony on Tuesday in Beverly Hills.