Tyler Perry

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Tyler Perry (born September 13, 1969 in New Orleans, Louisiana) is an American playwright and actor. He is best known for producing popular melodramas for the stage and screen that feature African-American characters in moral quandaries. His best-known character, played by himself, is Mabel Simmons, more commonly known as "Madea" an overbearing if well-intentioned woman who serves both as comic relief and as the loud voice of conscience to the principal protagonists of these morality plays.

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[edit] Early life

Perry was one of four children. His childhood in New Orleans was marked by poverty and physical abuse He was once homeless and lived in his car for three months[1]. After years of intense anger and deep resentment, Perry experienced an awakening. One day while he was watching The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1992, he took some advice — it can be cathartic to put feelings down on paper. So Perry began writing letters to deal with his painful childhood. These letters eventually became his plays. When Perry's work failed at the box office he was left penniless. Perry is now said to have found that because he had allowed so much anger from his turbulent past to build inside of him, he always found a way to self-sabotage his ventures. Perry eventually confronted his abusers and took responsibility for his previous failures. His perception of his own writing changed, and he came to terms with his past.

[edit] Career

[edit] Theater

Perry's first foray into writing was in 1992, when he began writing a journal, in part to cope with the repercussions of abuse. He was inspired to begin a journal after watching The Oprah Winfrey Show.

He developed different characters to voice different ideas in the journal. This work eventually became the musical I Know I've Been Changed, about adult survivors of child abuse.

Perry saved $12,000, moved to Atlanta in 1992, and tried to stage the play. It was not a success and over the next six years, he struggled living in Atlanta but he persevered until the play finally had a successful run in 1998, first at the House of Blues and later at the Fox Theatre.

His following play, a staging of Bishop T. D. Jakes' book Woman Thou Art Loosed, was an immediate hit, grossing over $5 million in five months. [1] A film version was later created starring Kimberly Elise and Loretta Devine, was released in theaters on October 4, 2004.

Perry, whose work is aimed at a primarily African-American audience, ultimately created a successful touring theater company. Recordings of some plays were subsequently sold on video and DVD. As of March 2005, Perry's plays had grossed over $75 million in ticket and DVD sales.

Cover of Madea's Class Reunion.
Cover of Madea's Class Reunion.

Perry stated in a January 2004 interview in Ebony magazine that his theater productions were designed to be a bridge between the traditional urban theater circuit - historically and pejoratively referred to as the "chitlin' circuit" - and a more traditional theater format. [2]

Perry's other highly successful plays include Diary of a Mad Black Woman, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Mr. Dr. Professor Patrick, Madea's Family Reunion and Madea's Class Reunion. He also wrote and created the hit plays Why Did I Get Married? featuring R&B singer Cheryl Pepsii Riley and Meet the Browns (Perry did not appear in either production). In 2005, Perry returned to the stage with another successful hit, Madea Goes to Jail.

Another play, What's Done in the Dark, which Perry wrote and directed but does not appear in, went on tour beginning in 2006.

[edit] Films

His first movie, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, produced on a budget of $5.5 million, became an unexpected hit, prompting widespread discussion among industry watchers about whether middle-class African Americans were simply not being addressed by mainstream Hollywood movies. Its final gross box office receipts were $50.6 million.[3]

On opening weekend, February 24, 2006 Perry's film version of Madea's Family Reunion opened at number one with $22 million and an impressive $14,770 per screen average. The film eventually grossed $65 million, and like Diary, almost all of it in the United States. [[4]

His next project for Lions Gate Entertainment, Daddy's Little Girls, starring Gabrielle Union, was released in the U.S. on February 14, 2007. As of February 20, it had grossed just shy of $25.1 million, making it the fifth highest grossing film of the Presidents' Day weekend.[5].

Perry is writing, directing and producing Why Did I Get Married, which is loosely based on the play. Variety says filming is set to begin March 5, 2007 in Whistler, British Columbia; Vancouver; and then Atlanta, where Perry recently opened his own studio. Janet Jackson, Sharon Leal (Dreamgirls), and Jill Scott have joined the cast.

[edit] Books

Perry's first novel, Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life, hit bookstores last April 11, 2006. The book is written from Madea's point of view, and offers commentary about love, relationships, and family. In its first five days in stores, the book sold more than 25,000 copies to send it up The Book Standard's Nielsen BookScan charts. [6] The hardcover hit Number One on the New York Times Best Seller list and stayed on the list for twelve weeks. It was voted the Book of the Year and Best Humor Book at the 2006 Quill Awards.


[edit] Trademarks

Several recurring narrative themes surface in Perry's work.

  • Features a predominantly African American cast. Thus Perry is able to comfortably portray blacks as both strong antagonists and strong protagonists and skirt around racial sensitivities that would occur in mainstream movies.
  • In nearly all of his plays and films, the male antagonist is always wealthy, while the lead male hero is usually of modest means. In several of the works, the female protagonist is torn between the "good guy" and the "bad guy".
  • He also shares with his viewers the theme of forgiveness. "While you're losing sleep being mad at them... they are sleeping peacefully". Tyler continues to share his Christian beliefs with audience members and fans.
  • The recurring character of Mabel "Madea" Simmons, referred to as "Madea", surfaces in many of Perry's work. Perry portrays Madea in his plays and films. Perry based Madea on an aunt who lives in Georgia, as well as his mother, according to Perry himself. In Madea's appearances, she dispenses wisdom in a "no-nonsense manner", and is usually involved in physical comedy and/or a sight gag. The nickname "Madea" comes from a Southern African American contraction of the words "mother dear", which is commonly used as a term of affection. It is also used as a reference to a great-grandmother.

[edit] Selected filmography

[edit] External links

The Tyler Perry Corporation
Plays: I Know I've Been Changed | Diary of a Mad Black Woman | I Can Do Bad All By Myself | Madea's Family Reunion | Madea's Class Reunion | Why Did I Get Married? | Meet the Browns | Madea Goes to Jail | What's Done in the Dark
Movies: Diary of a Mad Black Woman | Madea's Family Reunion | Daddy's Little Girls
See also: Mabel "Madea" Simmons | Characters in Tyler Perry Plays | Tyler Perry's House of Payne | Lions Gate Entertainment
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