Who is Tyler Perry?
Tyler Perry is an American dramatist, actor, and filmmaker who was born Emmitt Perry Jr. on September 13, 1969. In addition to playing her brother Joe Simmons and her nephew Brian Simmons, he is the creation and performer of Mabel “Madea” Simmons, a feisty old woman. The manner of Perry’s films ranges from traditional filmmaking methods to filmed versions of live stage plays, several of which have since been turned into feature films. Madea made her debut in the 1999 Chicago production of I Can Do Bad All by Myself.
The stage plays that Perry authored and produced peaked in popularity in the 1990s and 2000s. His breakout performance occurred in 2005 when he created and produced the film Diary of a Mad Black Woman, which was based on his stage play of the same name. In addition, he created many television shows, including Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, which aired on TBS for eight seasons between 2006 and 2012 before being renewed in 2020. With $130 million earned between May 2010 and May 2011, Forbes named him the highest-paid man in entertainment in 2011. Perry signed a multi-year exclusive contract with Oprah Winfrey and her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in 2012. The Haves and the Have Nots were among the scripted projects included in the transaction. He served as producer of BET’s 2019 political drama series, The Oval.
In addition to his own projects, Tyler Perry has been in a number of Hollywood movies, such as Don’t Look Up (2021), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), Vice (2018), Alex Cross (2012), Gone Girl (2014), Star Trek (2009), and Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021). Additionally, Perry has voiced characters in animated movies like Paw Patrol: The Movie (2021) and The Star (2017).
With a net worth of an estimated $1.4 billion and a total gross of over $660 million from his films and television shows, Tyler Perry is among the wealthiest individuals in the entertainment sector. Despite his films’ commercial success, reviewers and academics have criticized them, arguing that they perpetuate insulting or derogatory depictions of African Americans. The critical response to his films has also been generally negative. Perry won the Governor’s Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 2020 and was listed among Time’s 100 most influential people. He also won the Academy Awards’ Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2021, and the following year he was admitted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
Early Life
Willie Maxine Perry (née Campbell) and carpenter Emmitt Perry Sr. were the parents of Tyler Perry, who was born Emmitt Perry Jr. in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has three siblings. “Living hell” is how Perry has characterized his early years. His mother took him to church every week, where he felt a sense of security and contentment, unlike his violent father. In an attempt to break with his father, he got his first name officially changed from Emmitt to Tyler when he was sixteen years old.
Many years later, Perry was motivated to disclose for the first time that he had been assaulted by a friend’s mother when he was ten years old after viewing the movie Precious. Before this, he had also been abused by three men, and he later found out that his own father had abused his friend. Emmitt Sr. was not Perry’s biological father, according to a DNA test that Perry took.
Tyler Perry obtained his General Educational Development (GED) even though he did not finish high school. While watching an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show in his early twenties, he heard someone explain how writing can occasionally have a therapeutic effect, allowing the writer to resolve personal issues. He was motivated to pursue a profession in writing by this remark. He quickly began penning a number of letters to himself, which served as the inspiration for the song I Know I’ve Been Changed.
Career
Stage
Around 1990, Tyler Perry relocated to Atlanta, where, two years later, I Know I’ve Been Changed—which was funded by the 22-year-old Perry’s life savings of US$12,000 (approximately $28,881 in 2024)—was first shown at a community theater. The drama addressed problems like child abuse and dysfunctional families while incorporating Christian concepts of self-worth, forgiveness, and dignity. At first, the musical was a financial flop and got a “less than stellar” reaction.
He persisted, and despite the musical’s continual poor reviews, he revised it numerous times over the following six years. At the age of 28, he was able to rework the play and stage it again in Atlanta in 1998, first at the Fox Theatre and subsequently at the House of Blues.
Tyler Perry kept coming up with new stage shows, touring with them on the “Chitlin’ Circuit” (now termed the “urban theater circuit”) and gaining a sizable and loyal following among African-American viewers. In 2005, Forbes stated that he had sold “more than $100 million in tickets, $30 million in videos of his shows and an estimated $20 million in merchandise” , along with “the 300 live shows he produces each year are attended by an average of 35,000 people a week”
Film
In order to finance his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Tyler Perry gathered US$5.5 million from the ticket sales of his stage shows. The film went on to earn US$50.6 million domestically and received a 16% approval rating on the film review website Rotten Tomatoes. Perry has directed all of his Madea films since making his directorial debut with his next movie, which was an adaption of Madea’s Family Reunion. With $30.3 million, Madea’s Family Reunion debuted at the top of the box office during its first weekend, February 24–26, 2006. In the end, the movie made $65 million. On The Oprah Winfrey Show, Perry and his co-stars promoted the movie. Similar to Diary, practically all of the Madea’s profits have come from American sources.
Gabrielle Union and Idris Elba starred in Perry’s next Lionsgate film, Daddy’s Little Girls, which debuted on February 14, 2007, in the US. It brought in more than US$31 million. Why Did I Get Married?, Perry’s next feature, was written, directed, produced, and starred in. It came out on October 12, 2007. It made US$21.4 million that weekend and debuted at the top of the charts. His drama of the same name serves as a loose basis for it. After filming in Whistler, British Columbia, a resort town north of Vancouver, on March 5, 2007, the action shifted to Atlanta, where Tyler Perry had set up his own studio. The movie featured appearances by Janet Jackson, Tasha Smith, Jill Scott, and Sharon Leal. With a US$20.1 million weekend gross, Perry’s 2008 picture Meet the Browns, which debuted on March 21, came in at number two. When it debuted on September 12, 2008, The Family That Preys brought in over US$37.1 million.
On February 20, 2009, Madea Goes to Jail became his biggest opening to date, earning US$41 million and debuting at number one. With Lionsgate Entertainment, this was Perry’s seventh motion picture. In 2009, Tyler Perry played a minor part in Star Trek, which debuted on May 8, as Admiral Barnett, the commandant of the Starfleet Academy, at the request of director J. J. Abrams. His first movie appearance outside of his own ventures was this one. After that, Perry wrote, directed, and starred in the 2009 film I Can Do Bad All by Myself, which was based on the well-known stage play. At the box office, this was Perry’s eighth movie and the top earner.
Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey collaborated on the 2009 movie Precious, which was based on Sapphire’s book Push. The follow-up to Why Did I Get Married?, Why Did I Get Married Too?, debuted in theaters on April 2, 2010. It included Malik Yoba, Jill Scott, Tasha Smith, and Janet Jackson. The movie made US$29 million on its first weekend and US$60 million domestically.
Ntozake Shange’s 1975 choreopoem For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf was adapted into a movie by Perry and debuted in theaters on November 5, 2010. He starred in the stage production of Madea’s Big Happy Family, which Perry wrote, directed, and starred in. The stage play first toured the United States before being adapted months later and finally released in 2011. At the box office, the movie adaptation of Madea’s Big Happy Family earned US$25.8 million, placing it in second place.
Midway through January 2016, Perry began filming Boo! A Madea Halloween, his seventeenth movie and tenth in the Madea series. October 21, 2016 was the movie’s premiere date. In October 2017, the follow-up, Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, was made available. The Star, Perry’s first animated film based on the Nativity of Jesus, featured him and Oprah Winfrey as voice actors. The movie, which was created by Sony Pictures Animation, came out on November 17, 2017.
Film partnerships and distribution
Lions Gate Entertainment co-produces and distributes Perry’s films; he maintains complete copyright rights under the company name Tyler Perry Films and puts his name before all titles. Although there hasn’t been much of a release of Perry’s films outside of North America, Lionsgate stated in May 2010 that it would start releasing his films in the UK.
Television programs
From June 21, 2006, to August 10, 2012, Tyler Perry produced the popular sitcom Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, which aired for eight seasons. The show focused on a three-generation African-American family. The family members’ severe, realistic battles with religion and love were depicted in the show. The program debuted as a 10-show pilot in the spring of 2006. Perry agreed to a US$200 million, 100-episode contract with TBS following the successful pilot run. The first two episodes of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne aired on TBS on June 6, 2007. The popularity of House of Payne led to its entry into broadcast syndication. Before the start of the second season, reruns ran until December 2007. The sitcom Meet the Browns, which debuted on TBS on January 7, 2009, and ran until November 18, 2011, was likewise written, directed, and produced by Perry.
OWN and partnership with Oprah
Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, and Lee Daniels co-produced Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire in 2009. Daniels directed the movie, which stars Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe. “I think [Perry] grew up being raised by strong, black women,” Oprah said in an interview while promoting the movie. And he truly celebrates that in a lot of his actions. I believe Madea is a collection of all the powerful black women I know—and perhaps you do too. Therefore, people’s ability to see themselves is the reason it works.
He signed a multi-year exclusive contract with Oprah Winfrey and her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) on October 2, 2012. Given Perry’s prior success in this area, the relationship was primarily intended to introduce scripted television to OWN.
Based on Tyler Perry’s films Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married Too?, For Better or Worse debuted on TBS on November 25, 2011. TBS canceled the show in February 2013, but OWN brought it back for a third season, which debuted on September 18.
Tyler Perry also has two additional TV shows on OWN: the sitcom Love Thy Neighbor and the hour-long soap opera/drama series The Haves and the Have Nots. The Haves and the Have Nots debuted on May 28, 2013, and on July 20, 2021, it concluded its eight-season run. Oprah Winfrey acknowledged the show for helping her network succeed and paved the way for a number of other highly acclaimed dramas to air on OWN. The Haves and the Have Nots achieved multiple Nielsen rating highs for the OWN broadcasting station during its run. On May 29, 2013, it was announced that The Haves and The Have Nots broke the previous record for OWN by receiving the greatest ratings ever for a network series launch. Love Thy Neighbor received the second best ratings ever for a series launch on OWN, behind The Haves and the Have Nots. The show was praised as “one of OWN’s biggest success stories with its weekly dose of soapy fun, filled with the typical betrayals, affairs, and manipulations.” During its eight-year run, The Haves and the Have Nots brought OWN some of its highest ratings.
As part of Perry’s ongoing collaboration with OWN, the network ordered If Loving You Is Wrong, Perry’s fourth scripted series (and fourth series by Perry) based on the feature film The Single Moms Club, on January 9, 2014. September 9, 2014, marked the debut of the one-hour drama series.
Tyler Perry Studios
Tyler Perry purchased the 330-acre (130-hectare) former military installation Fort McPherson near Atlanta in 2015 and turned it into studio space. Both the television series The Walking Dead and the HBO Films/OWN film adaptation of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks were filmed at the studios. Standing permanent sets occupy 50,000 square feet (4,600 m2) of the site. These sets include a White House replica, a replica of a luxury hotel lobby, a 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) mansion, a trailer park set, a mock low-cost hotel, and a real 1950s-style diner that was moved from a town located 100 miles (160 km) away. Additionally, it has twelve sound stages that are named after successful African Americans in the entertainment sector. On February 19, 2018, Tyler Perry made a personal announcement on his Instagram account that the popular Marvel movie Black Panther would be the first to be shot on one of the new stages at Tyler Perry Studios.
After Tim and Daphne Reid, Perry became the second African American to fully own a major motion picture studio with Tyler Perry Studios, one of the biggest in the US.
Books
On April 11, 2006, Perry released her debut book, Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea’s Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life. Thirty thousand copies were sold. The New York Times Best Seller list saw the hardcover book peak at number one and stay there for 12 weeks. At the 2006 Quill Awards, it won Best Humor Book and Book of the Year.
Higher Is Waiting, his second novel, came out on November 14, 2017. On the New York Times Best Seller list, it made its debut at number five.
Tyler Perry Personal Life
Family and relationships
Willie Maxine Perry, Perry’s mother, passed away on December 8, 2009, at the age of 64, after a protracted illness. He runs the Tyler Perry movie and television studios in Southwest Atlanta, where he also resides. He reportedly bought Dean Gardens, a 58-acre (23-hectare) home in the Johns Creek, Atlanta, area, in August 2010. The 32,000-square-foot (3,000-square-meter) mansion was demolished, and a new, eco-friendly house was planned but never constructed on the site.
Perry’s partner, Gelila Bekele, gave birth to their son, Aman, on November 30, 2014. Perry revealed that he was single in December 2020.
Following the removal of their British royal protection, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, publicly disclosed on March 7, 2021, in the television interview Oprah with Meghan and Harry, that Perry had provided temporary security and housing for three months, enabling the couple to move safely from Canada to California in March 2020. Princess Lilibet of Sussex, their daughter, has Perry as a godfather as well. Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith, and Janet Jackson are all close friends of Perry’s.
After Stephen “tWitch” Boss passed himself, Perry posted a video to his Instagram account in which he discussed his personal battles with depression and disclosed that he had made multiple attempts at suicide prior to his career taking off.
Religion
Tyler Perry is a Christian. Numerous scenes in his stage and film work that depict church settings and worship styles typical of predominantly African American churches, including showcases of gospel music and artists, are examples of how his themes reflect theology and social behavior typical of the predominantly black church culture.
After learning that 65 kids from a day camp in Philadelphia had been rejected by the Valley Swim Club in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, Perry financed their trip to Walt Disney World on July 20, 2009.
He stated on his website, “I want them to know that for every act of evil that a few people will throw at you, there are millions more who will do something kind for them.”
Perry attended flight training lessons and earned a private pilot certificate in order to get over his phobia of flying. His aircraft is a Cirrus SR22T.
Properties
Perry purchased a 17-acre (7 hectare) mansion in Atlanta’s Buckhead region’s Paces neighborhood in 2007. He closed the largest private home transaction in the Georgia capital’s history when he sold the mansion for $17.5 million in May 2016. His business, ETPC LLC, acquired around 1,100 acres (4.5 km2) in the Douglas County, Georgia, vicinity of New Manchester in 2013.
Perry bought a home in Mulholland Estates, a gated enclave in Los Angeles, in September 2017. Perry sold the estate for $15.6 million nine months after purchasing it.
Perry owns vacation homes in the Bahamas and Wyoming.
In Douglasville, Georgia, Perry owns a 2,100-acre (8.5 km2) estate that includes an airfield and a 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) châteauesque home.
Tyler Perry Net Worth
With an incredible net worth of $1.4 billion, he has made a name for himself as one of the biggest media tycoons.
Filmography
- Diary of a Mad Black Woman – 2005
- Madea’s Family Reunion – 2006
- Daddy’s Little Girls – 2007
- Why Did I Get Married? – 2007
- Meet the Browns – 2008
- The Family That Preys – 2008
- Madea Goes to Jail – 2009
- Star Trek – 2009
- I Can Do Bad All by Myself – 2009
- Precious – 2009
- Why Did I Get Married Too? – 2010
- For Colored Girls – 2010
- Madea’s Big Happy Family – 2011
- Good Deeds – 2012
- Madea’s Witness Protection – 2012
- Alex Cross – 2012
- Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor – 2013
- Peeples – 2013
- A Madea Christmas – 2013
- The Single Moms Club – 2014
- Gone Girl – 2014
- Madea’s Tough Love – 2015
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows – 2016
- Brain on Fire – 2016
- Boo! A Madea Halloween – 2016
- The Star – 2017
- Boo 2! A Madea Halloween – 2017
- Acrimony – 2018
- Nobody’s Fool – 2018
- Vice – 2018
- A Madea Family Funeral – 2019
- A Fall from Grace – 2020
- Those Who Wish Me Dead – 2021
- Paw Patrol: The Movie – 2021
- Don’t Look Up – 2021
- A Madea Homecoming – 2022
- A Jazzman’s Blues – 2022
- Mea Culpa – 2024
- Divorce in the Black – 2024
- The Six Triple Eight – 2024
- Tyler Perry’s Duplicity – 2025
- Straw – 2025
- Madea’s Destination Wedding – 2025
- Finding Joy – 2025
