Cherita Armstrong

Actor: Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

Cherita is an American actress who has played a variety of diverse characters throughout her acting career. Her television credits include Law & Order: SVU, All My Children, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury, and her recurring role on the hit television series Pretty Little Liars. She is most known for her commitment to bringing historical figures to life through her work in theatre. She is the star of Lit to Life’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, a poignant solo piece based on the true story memori written by Harriet Jacobs, for which she has garnered much acclaim. She also played Alice Dunbar, wife of poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar, in Oak & Ivy; Lou Bessie in The Old Settler and Ruby in August Wilson's Seven Guitars.

Her film credits include Nowhere to Go But Up directed by Amos Kollek and Better Dayz by director Norman C. Linton. She has also done extensive commercial work. An accomplished singer, Cherita has also performed in such musicals as Beehive, Tambourines to Glory and cabaret shows Cotton Club Review and The Best of the Genius of Ray.

Cherita was exposed to the arts, especially acting and singing at a young age. As a girl growing up in the Bronx, her mom and aunt would take her and her cousins to perform at nursing homes and community centers. She also worked with a children's repertory theatre. "I've always been drawn to creating characters and bringing stories to life," she says. "I'm really drawn to the underdog and to understanding why people do what they do. I want to play characters who truly reveal themselves and tell the stories that rarely get told.”