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Tyler Perry (born September 13, 1969 in New
Orleans, Louisiana) is an American playwright and actor.
****
Personal life
Perry was one of four children. His
childhood in New Orleans was marked by poverty and physical abuse. Perry
once blamed his lack of success on his parents and others; as a result,
he was homeless and living in his car just eight years ago.
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 timeless advice—it
can be cathartic to put feelings down on paper. So Perry began writing
letters to deal with his painful childhood—letters that eventually
turned into his plays.
When his shows failed at the box office and
he was left penniless, Perry blamed everyone else—a habit he had
acquired from his past. Perry 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 took back his power by confronting
his abusers and taking responsibility for his failures. His perception
of his own writing changed, and he came to terms with his past.
This New Orleans native has had a stellar
decade plus and showing no signs of letting up.[citation needed]
Highlighting his life is his first movie. The screen adaptation of his
stageplay, Diary of a Mad Black Woman was the #1 box office movie,
starring Kimberly Elise, Shemar Moore, Steve Harris, Cicely Tyson, and
of course Perry himself, who played 3 roles. This movie won 5 of 7
awards nominated for the 2005 BET Comedy Awards and Tyler's performance
was nominated for MTV's 2005 "Breakthrough Performance Male" Award. In
2005 Perry filmed his second movie, (one of his stageplays), Madea's
Family Reunion starring Blair Underwood, Boris Kodjoe, Maya Angelou and
Cicely Tyson. Released February 24, 2006, it was #1 in the box office
for two weeks.
Tyler Perry and his talents as a
playwright, director, producer and actor extraordinaire have taken urban
theater and film to another level. [citation needed] His legacy includes
sellout performances throughout the country. He was nominated for the
prestigious Helen Hayes Award for excellence in theatre as well as other
awards. Perry, the author of 10 major stageplays and two movies has
embraced many lives with laughter and spirituality.
Perry chose the stage life as the vehicle.
In 1997, Tyler had his first production, I Know I've Been Changed. It
was followed by Woman, Thou Art Loosed and Behind Closed Doors, both
collaborations with Bishop T.D. Jakes. In 2000, he wrote I Can Do Bad
All By Myself and introduced Madea; Diary of a Mad Black Woman; Family
Reunion and Class Reunion: all starred Tyler Perry as "Madea". Two of
his projects—Why Did I Get Married with Grammy Award winner Kelly Price
and Meet the Browns— have toured successfully without him while Perry
focused on new ventures. In December 2004, Perry wrote and produced
Madea's Christmas Play for Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), which
netted the highest ratings for the local broadcast and third highest in
TBN history.
Tyler's latest episode in his life is his
book, Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings (Riverhead Books),
released April 11, 2006. On April 30, 2006 it debuted atop the New York
Times Non-Fiction Best Sellers List and remained number one for 3 weeks.
Career
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 and he was homeless, but
he persevered until the play finally had a successful run in 1998, first
at the House of Blues and later at the Fox Theater.
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. 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 the
African-American audience, ultimately created a successful touring
theater company. Recordings of some of the plays were subsequently sold
on video and DVD. As of March 2005, the plays had grossed over $75
million in ticket sales and DVD sales. Perry's success is notable as his
theater company did not have substantial publicity or corporate backing,
and most of his patrons were from the underserved urban theater
audience.
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 - pejoratively referred to
as the "chitlin' circuit" - and a more traditional theater format.
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 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.
Film
His first movie, Diary of a Mad Black
Woman, produced on a budget of under $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.
On opening weekend, February 24, 2006
Perry's film version of Madea's Family Reunion opened at number one with
$30 million, more than triple the amount it cost to make.
His next project for Lionsgate
Entertainment, Daddy's Little Girl, starring Gabrielle Union, is
currently in production.
Books
Perry's first novel, Don't Make a Black
Woman Take Her Earrings Off: Madea's Commentaries on Love and Life, hit
bookstores on 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.
Television
Currently, he has created a new series
entitled, Tyler Perry's House of Payne, which in now being shown in
first-run syndication.
Perry's themes
Several recurring narrative themes surface
in Perry's work. In nearly all of his plays and films, the male
antagonist is always a wealthy man, while the lead male hero is usually
a man of modest means. In several of the works, the female protagonist
is torn between the "good guy" and the "bad guy".
He also share with his viewers the theme of
forgiveness. "While you're losing sleep being mad at them... they are
sleeping peacefully". Tyler continues to share the word of God with
everyone who comes to see him. He believes God blessed him and wants to
share the faith.
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 Houston, 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.
Legacy- Future
The theme of Perry's latest works, (the "Madea"
series), may be considered morality plays. These works transcend any
religious undertones. They are about ethics in the modern world.
Contempt, respect, and the human condition.
It remains to be seen if Perry will ever be
known for more than dressing up as a woman. Because of well-known films
such as Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire, and the Big Momma's House franchise,
Perry's works have not recieved any critical acclaim for its originality
or creativity.
****
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