Tyler Perry Biography and Photos

Tyler Perry (born September 14, 1969) is an American playwright, screenwriter, actor and director and producer of indie films and stage plays. His best-known character is "Madea", who is a physically imposing and overbearing, but well-intentioned, woman who serves both as comic relief and as the loud voice of conscience for the protagonists of Perry's works.

Tyler was born Emmitt R. Perry, Jr. in New Orleans, Louisiana (he now lives in Atlanta, Georgia), One of four children. Perry changed his first name to Tyler because of his troubled relationship with his father. His father, Emmitt, Sr., was a carpenter and construction worker, and his mother, Maxine, was a pre-school teacher who worked at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center for most of her life. His childhood in New Orleans was marked by poverty and sexual abuse from his father. Perry dropped out of school when he was 16, but later went back to school to obtain his GED. Perry is a Christian.