Legendary author Maya Angelou dies at age 86

(CNN) -- Maya Angelou, a renowned poet, novelist and actress, has died at age 86, her literary agent, Helen Brann, said Wednesday.

She died at her home in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Brann said.

Also a professor, singer and dancer, Angelou's work spans several professions. In 2011, President Barack Obama awarded her with the Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor.

One of Angelou's most revered books was "I Know Why the Caged Sings."

Writer Julian Mayfield is said to have described the autobiography as "a work of art which eludes description."

Angelou spent her early years studying dance and drama in San Francisco but dropped out at age 14, instead becoming the city's first African-American female cable car conductor.

Angelou later returned to high school to finish her diploma and gave birth a few weeks after graduation. While the 17-year-old single mother waited tables to support her son, she acquired a passion for music and dance, and toured Europe in the mid-1950s in the opera production "Porgy and Bess." In 1957, she recorded her first album, "Calypso Lady."

In 1958, Angelou become a part of the Harlem Writers Guild in New York and also played a queen in "The Blacks," an off-Broadway production by French dramatist Jean Genet.