Cicely Tyson To Star In Ava DuVernay’s ‘Cherish The Day’ Anthology Series On OWN

Denise Petski

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Three-time Emmy winner Cicely Tyson is set for a leading role in Ava DuVernay’s OWN anthology series Cherish the Day. Tyson joins previously announced leads Xosha Roquemore and Alano Miller in the series from Warner Horizon Scripted Television. It’s slated for a winter 2020 premiere.

Created by DuVernay, each season of Cherish the Day will chronicle the stirring romance of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel us to hold true to the ones we love — from the extraordinary to the everyday.

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Tyson will play Miss Luma Lee Langston, a legendary star of stage and screen in decades past.

With a straight-to-series order, DuVernay is executive producing the original anthology series as part of her recently announced overall deal with the studio, Warner Horizon Scripted Television.

Cherish the Day is produced for OWN by Array Filmworks and Harpo Films in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. DuVernay, Paul Garnes (Queen Sugar), Tanya Hamilton (Queen Sugar, Night Catches Us) and Oprah Winfrey are executive producers. Hamilton will direct the series premiere, written by DuVernay.

“Last November I was honored to present Ms. Tyson with her Honorary Academy Award, so to have the opportunity to work with this force of nature who has inspired multiple generations with her talent and grace is beyond anything I can describe,” said DuVernay. “I am over the moon that ​Ms. Tyson will bring Miss Luma Lee Langston to life in Cherish the Day. Each day that she walks on set is a master class.”

Oscar-nominated for Sounder, Tyson is the first African-American woman to win an Emmy Award as Best Lead Actress in a Drama for her titular role in 1974’s The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. That same year, she also received a second special Emmy Award as Actress of the Year. Tyson received her third Emmy for The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All and has been nominated for her performances in How To Get Away With Murder, Roots, King, Sweet Justice, The Marva Collins Story, and A Lesson Before Dying.

In 2016, President Barack Obama presented Tyson with the nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for her contribution to the arts and American culture. Tyson will be inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame this fall.

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