September 13th in African American History – Emmitt Perry, Jr. (Tyler Perry)

Emmitt Perry, Jr. (Tyler Perry)

September 13, 1969 Emmitt Perry, Jr. (Tyler Perry), writer, director, producer and entrepreneur, was born in New Orleans, Louisiana.

At the age of 16, Perry had his first name legally changed to Tyler. Perry did not graduate from high school, but did earn his GED. Around 1990, he moved to Atlanta and two years later his first play, “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” was performed. In 1998, after significant refinement, the play became a success and Perry began staging a succession of plays on the “urban theater circuit,” including “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” (1999), “Madea’s Family Reunion” (2001), “What’s Done in the Dark” (2006), and “The Haves and The Have Nots” (2011).

In 2005, Forbes Magazine estimated that Perry had sold more than $100 million in tickets, $30 million in videos, and $20 million in merchandise. Perry produced his first movie, “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” in 2005. Other movies that he has produced include “Why Did I Get Married” (2007), “Madea Goes to Jail” (2009), and “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf” (2010). In 2006, Perry began producing the television show “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne.”

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