Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry was born Emmitt Perry Jr. in New Orleans to a mother who took him to church and a father who was abusive. He endured a childhood of poverty and abuse, was homeless in his twenties, and poured his pain into writing plays that he financed himself.
After years of empty theaters and financial failure, his musical play I Know I've Been Changed finally found an audience in 1998. Perry built on that success by creating the character Madea — a tough, hilarious grandmother who became a cultural phenomenon through stage plays, films, and television.
In 2019, Perry opened Tyler Perry Studios — a 330-acre lot on a former Confederate army base in Atlanta, making it the largest film production studio in the country owned by a single individual. He became a billionaire, one of the wealthiest entertainers alive, and is known for extraordinary generosity — paying off layaway balances for strangers, funding groceries for elderly communities, and personally supporting hundreds of families during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It doesn't matter if a million people tell you what you can't do, or if ten million tell you no. If you get one yes from God, that's all you need."— Tyler Perry
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