| Tyler Perry | |
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| Born | September 13, 1969 Harvey, Louisiana |
Tyler Perry (born September 13, 1969) is an American playwright, actor and film director. His best-known character 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 Perry's morality plays.
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Personal life
Perry was born in New Orleans[1], one of four children. His father, Emmitt, was a carpenter and construction worker, and his mother, Maxine, was a pre-school teacher and worked at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center for most of her life.[2][3][4][5] His childhood in New Orleans was marked by poverty and physical abuse. He was once homeless and lived in his car for three months.[6] Perry is a Christian.[7]
Career
Theatre
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 the advice that it can be cathartic to put feelings down on paper, which inspired him to write letters of his painful childhood. These letters eventually became his plays. 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 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 moved to Atlanta in 1992 and worked in a restaurant and as a used car salesman. He managed to save up $12,000 to stage his first play. It was not a success and over the next six years, he struggled living in Atlanta but 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.[8] A film version was later created starring Kimberly Elise and Cicely Tyson, was released in theaters on October 1, 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.
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.[9] Perry's other highly successful plays include Diary of a Mad Black Woman, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, 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 Kelly Price and later the DVD version featured 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 September 2006. The tour of the play ended May 13, 2007 but returned for another run in September. The video was filmed in Charlotte, NC and will be released in February. His next play will be titled The Marriage Counselor and will premire 2008.
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.[10] On opening weekend, February 24, 2006 Perry's film version of Madea's Family Reunion opened at number one with $22 million and a $14,770 per screen average. The film eventually grossed $65 million, and like Diary, almost all of it in the United States. The film was jump-started by an hour-long appearance by Perry and his co-stars on the influential Oprah Winfrey show.[11] His next project for Lions Gate Entertainment, Daddy's Little Girls, starring Gabrielle Union, was released in the U.S. on February 14, 2007. It grossed over $31 million. [12] Perry wrote, directed, produced, and starred in his next movie, Why Did I Get Married, which was released on October 12, 2007. It opened as the #1 grossing $21.4 million dollars at the box office that weekend. It is loosely based on the play. Filming began March 5, 2007 in Whistler, British Columbia; Vancouver, then Atlanta, where Perry recently opened his own studio. Janet Jackson, Sharon Leal and Jill Scott appear in the film. His upcoming films include an adaptation of his play Meet the Browns, scheduled for March 2008 featuring Angela Bassett and Tyler will reprise himself as Madea and Uncle Joe, Madea's naughty trash talking brother. Madea Goes to Jail the movie is scheduled for a fall 2008 release followed by A Jazzman's Blues, which is slated for 2009 and will be Perry's seventh film with Lionsgate. Perry will star as the jazz singer in the movie. Also, in his first film outside of his own projects, Perry will play the superintendant of Starfleet Academy in JJ Abrams' new Star Trek film. [13]
Television
Perry produced a television show titled Tyler Perry's House of Payne, which follows a working-class, African-American household with three generations of family within it. The show seeks to illustrate struggles with faith and love, as well as showing how to coexist with the generation gap. The show ran briefly in Spring 2006 as a 10 show pilot. After a successful pilot run, Perry signed a $200 million dollar 100 episode deal with TBS. On June 6, 2007, Tyler Perry's first two episodes of House of Payne ran on TBS. Due to high ratings, House of Payne is now in syndication. Re-runs will play through December 2007 before the second season begins. House of Payne will air on FOX network beginning September 2008. Meet The Browns is Perry's next sitcom starring David Mann and Tamela Mann.
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 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.[14] 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.
Trademarks
Perry always places a possessive reference to himself in all of his work's titles (e.g., Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?) Several recurring narrative themes surface in Perry's work. They feature a predominantly African American cast. His films often tackle issues of physical and sexual abuse, and are often based in Atlanta. The recurring character of Mabel "Madea" Simmons 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. Tyler often references Alice Walker's The Color Purple, which he notes as one of his favorite movies. Perry plays also make references to 1970s R&B and soul music, and the differences between that and the current state of rap/hip-hop music, and other music popular amongst the Black community.
Filmography
- A Jazzman's Blues the movie (2009) (according to website)
- Madea Goes to Jail the movie (2008) (according to website)
- Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns (2008) (according to website)
- Star Trek (2008) (confirmed) [15]
- Why Did I Get Married? (2007)
- Daddy's Little Girls (2007) aka Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls (USA: complete title)
- Madea's Family Reunion (2006)
- House of Payne (2006) TV Series (unknown episodes) aka Tyler Perry's House of Payne (USA: complete title)
- Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005)
- Meet the Browns (2004) (V)
- Madea's Family Reunion (2002) (V)
- Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2002) (V)
References
- ^ http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2872/Perry-Tyler.html
- ^ http://movies.about.com/od/directorinterviews/a/daddystp021207.htm
- ^ http://www.accessatlanta.com/movies/content/shared/movies/stories/2006/02/tylerperry0222a.html
- ^ http://www.oprah.com/rys/omag/rys_omag_200603_aha_c.jhtml
- ^ http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9901E6DC153BF93BA35754C0A9629C8B63
- ^ He has mentioned this at the end of one of his plays
- ^ http://www.beliefnet.com/gallery/TylerPerryInterview.html?pgIndex=3
- ^ http://www.biogs.com/famous/perrytyler.html
- ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_3_59/ai_111850312
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=diaryofamadblackwoman.htm
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=madeasfamilyreunion.htm
- ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=daddyslittlegirls.htm
- ^ http://trekmovie.com/2007/12/29/tyler-perry-to-appear-in-star-trek/
- ^ http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/retail/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002382647
- ^ http://movieblog.ugo.com/index.php/movieblog/more/tyler_perrys_star_trek_adventure_ugo_exclusive/
External links
- Tyler Perry at the Internet Movie Database
- Official website
- Interview with Tyler Perry on beliefnet.com
