Arts & Entertainment
Tyler Perry: The ‘Good Deeds’ Interview
T
yler Perry’s inspira-
tional journey from
the hard streets of
New Orleans to the heights
of Hollywood’s A-list is the
stuff of American legend.
Born into poverty and raised
in a household scarred by
abuse, Tyler fought from a
young age to find the
strength, faith and persever-
ance that would later form
the foundations of his
much-acclaimed
plays,
films, books and TV shows.
It was a simple piece of
advice from Oprah Winfrey
that set Tyler’s career in
motion. Encouraged to keep
a diary of his daily thoughts
and experiences, he began
writing a series of soul-
searching letters to himself.
The letters, full of pain and,
in
time,
forgiveness,
became a healing catharsis.
His writing inspired a
musical, “I Know I’ve Been
Changed,” and in 1992
Tyler gathered his life’s sav-
ings and set off for Atlanta
in hopes of staging it for
sold out crowds. He spent
all the money but the people
never came, and Tyler once
again came face to face with
the poverty that had plagued
his youth.
He spent months sleeping
in seedy motels and his car
but his faith - in God and, in
turn, himself - only got
stronger. He forged a pow-
erful relationship with the
church, and kept writing. In
by Kam
Williams
1998, his perseverance paid
off and a promoter booked
“I Know I’ve Been
Changed” for a limited run
at a local church-turned-the-
atre. This time, the
communi-
ty came
out
in
droves,
and soon
the musi-
cal moved
t
o
Atlanta’s
presti-
gious Fox Theatre. And
Tyler Perry never looked
back.
Thus began an incredible
run of 13 plays in as many
years, including “Woman
Thou Art Loosed!,” a cele-
brated collaboration with
the prominent Dallas pastor
T.D. Jakes. In the year 2000,
“I Can Do Bad All by
Myself” marked the first
appearance of the now-leg-
endary
Madea,
a
God-fearing, gun-toting,
pot-smoking, loud-mouthed
grandmother played by
Perry himself.
Madea was such a
resounding success, she
soon spawned a series of
plays – “Madea’s Family
Reunion” (2002), “Madea’s
Class Reunion” (2003),
“Madea Goes To Jail”
(2005) - and set the stage
for Tyler’s jump to the big
screen. In early 2005,
Tyler’s first feature film,
“Diary of a Mad Black
Woman,” debuted at #1
nationwide.
His
ensuing
films,
“Madea’s Family Reunion,”
“Daddy’s Little Girls,”
He spent months
sleeping in seedy motels
and his car but his faith
only got stronger
“Why Did I Get Married,”
“Meet The Browns,” “The
Family That Preys,” “I Can
Do Bad All by Myself,” and
“Why Did I Get Married,
Too?” have all met with
both critical acclaim and
commercial
success,
delighting audiences across
America and around the
world. 2006 saw the publi-
cation of Tyler’s first book,
“Don’t Make A Black
Woman Take Off Her Ear-
rings: Madea’s Uninhibited
Commentaries On Life And
Love,” which shot to the top
of the New York Times non-
fiction best-seller list and
remained there for 8 weeks.
The following year, Tyler
expanded his reach to tele-
vision with the TBS series
“House of Payne,” the high-
est-rated
first-run
syndicated cable show of all
time. His next TV sitcom,
“Meet the Browns,” was the
second highest debut ever
on cable - after “House of
Payne.”
Not one to rest on his lau-
rels, in the fall of 2008,
Perry opened his 200,000
square-foot
Studio
in
Atlanta, situated on more
than 30 acres of real estate.
The Studio consists of 5
sound stages, a post produc-
tion facility, a pond, a back
lot, a 400-seat theater, a pri-
vate screening room, and
designated areas for enter-
taining and hosting events.
But listen to Tyler and
you’ll hear a man who has-
n’t forgotten where he came
from or the folks who
helped him reach the show-
biz mountaintop. He has
donated generously to char-
ities that focus on helping
the homeless, such as Feed-
ing America, Covenant
House, Hosea Feed the
Hungry, Project Adventure,
and Perry Place - a 20-home
community that he built for
survivors of Hurricane Kat-
rina.
In July 2009, Tyler spon-
sored a trip to Walt Disney
World for 65 children after
learning that a suburban
swim club had turned them
away because of the color of
their skin. Tyler Perry has
also built two churches and
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