Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry, Jr., 13.11.1969)
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer.
Net Worth: In 2014, Forbes published an article claiming that Tyler Perry had a net worth of 400 million USD.
Childhood: Tyler Perry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were Willie Maxine and Emmitt Perry, Sr., a carpenter. He had a difficult childhood whereby he was persistently beaten by his father and once tried to commit suicide. His attending church every week became his solace. When he was 16, he changed his name to Tyler. He has revealed that he was molested as a child by his friend's mother and three other men. He also discovered that his father abused a friend of his. Though he failed to complete high school, he managed to earn a GED.
Career: Tyler Perry started out his screenwriting career with stage dramas; his semi-autobiographical musical 'I Know I've Been Changed' was first performed in 1992. He was granted a $5.5 million budget for his first movie 'Diary of a Mad Black Woman' which grossed more than ten times its budget. The 2006 sequel 'Madea's Family Reunion' topped the box office on its opening weekend. In 2007, he made the film 'Daddy's Little Girls' starring Gabrielle Union and Idris Elba. He also starred in another of his movies 'Why Did I Get Married?' that same year. Both were box office successes. 'Why Did I Get Married Too?' was released in 2010 featuring Janet Jackson. The next two films that he directed, wrote, produced and acted in were 2008's 'Meet the Browns' with Angela Bassett and 'The Family That Preys' with Kathy Bates and Alfre Woodard. His largest box office opening to date came with his movie 'Madea Goes to Jail' in 2009, which grossed $41 million in the first weekend. That year he also had an appearance in J.J. Abrams' 'Star Trek' movie alongside Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto. He also created the sitcom 'Meet the Browns' which premiered in 2009. That year also saw him release his movie 'I Can Do Bad All By Myself' which also starred Taraji P. Henson. He also co-produced the emotionally charged movie about child abuse 'Precious' with Oprah Winfrey. In 2010, he adapted Ntozake Shange's 1975 choreopoem 'For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf' into a movie entitled just 'For Colored Girls'. In 2012, he appeared as the title character in the film adaptation of James Patterson's 'Alex Cross' which also starred Matthew Fox and Edward Burns. His next film was in 2012's 'Good Deeds' in which he starred as the main character alongside Thandie Newton, Gabrielle Union and Eddie Cibrian. In 2013, he released his thirteenth movie 'Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor' based on a play that he did in 2008. He produced a TV show called 'Tyler Perry's House of Payne' which ran from 2006 to 2012. 'The Haves and the Have Nots and Love Thy Neighbor' is a spin-off from the show which began in 2013. In 2014, Perry directed the film Single Moms Club.
Personal life: Tyler Perry is a Christian and reflects Black church culture in much of his work. In 2007, he bought a 17-acre estate in Atlanta. In 2010, he reportedly bought the Dean Gardens estate in Johns creek, Atlanta. He also apparently owns a house in the Hollywood Hills. In 2009, he sponsored children from a Philadelphia day camp to visit Walt Disney World when they were rejected from a swim club. That year his mother died at the age of 64.
Biography by Contactmusic.com
