Tyler Perry is a famous actor, director, producer, author, and even a songwriter who is mostly known as the creator of the TV show, “Tyler Perry’s House of Payne”. With the series, he became one of the highest earning people in the entertainment industry in 2011. For the most part, Perry’s works are based on the themes of typical African-American households. They have been reflecting the strength, weakness, achievements, and the failures of the African-American community as a whole.
Without any shadow of a doubt, Perry tops the list of multi-talented African-Americans for all his contribution to the community. He remains an inspirational figure among all who love movies and entertainment industry as a whole. Let us now get to know more about Perry.
Tyler Perry: Early Life and Education
Tyler Perry was born as Emmitt Perry Jr on the 13th of September, 1969, in New Orleans, LA. He was born as a middle child, with two older sisters and a younger brother. While his mother was a regular worshipper at the church who frequently would take Perry together, his father was a carpenter. Growing up, Perry suffered a lot of abuse from his father and this led him to depression as a teenager. Things even got worse to the point that he attempted suicide at home to put an end to his difficult situation. However, at an age of 16, he decided to change his name to Tyler to disassociate himself from his father.
Now looking at his academics, Tyler was a high school drop out and it was mainly because of the abuse he went through in his early days. Despite that, Perry eventually went back to earn himself a General Equivalency Diploma (GED). Next, he entered the professional world with many unfulfilling jobs.
Tyler Perry: Career
Tyler first found his passion in 1991 when he was watching an episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. The episode involved discussions on the therapeutic nature of writing and this inspired Tyler to start writing. As he began writing to himself, he created a masterpiece in the form of a play, titled- “I Know I’ve Changed”. The play had a lot to do with the domestic abuse present in the then society. He went on to rent a theater in Atlanta to stage his play, but it did not end up attracting the number of people as he hoped to have. However, a few years later, in 1998, he got a second chance and things were completely different this time around.
As the play sold out for many consecutive shows, it grossed him several million dollars. This changed the perception of the African-American theatre and brought it into a more favorable light. After the success on his first play, he was invited to work for the play, “Woman, Thou Art Loosed”. Perry agreed to do so and then he rewrote the play, directed it, and even produced it. It was again a massive success, earning over $5 million in 5 months. Today, Tyler has over 17 feature films, 20 stage plays, 7 TV Shows, and a New York Times bestseller to his name.
Tyler Perry: Personal Life
Whilst many have been questioning Perry’s sexual orientation, suggesting that he is a gay man, it could not be further from the truth. It probably came up because of the fact that he is not married. However, Perry has been in a long-term relationship with the model Gelila Bekele. The pair have been together since 2009 and are extremely happy together.
Tyler and Gelila also gave birth to a baby boy. Their son Aman was born on the 30th of November, in 2014 and has the best life he could imagine among amazing parents. Perry likes to keep his son away from the eyes of the media. He believes that his son too needs to struggle on his own to find success. After what he went through in his early years, Perry believes in helping those in need. On the 20th of July, 2009, he funded a camp for 65 children from Philadelphia to visit “Walt Disney World”.
Tyler Perry: Net Worth and Social Media
Tyler is certainly one of the biggest figures in the entertainment industry and his contributions to the African-American society will long be remembered. For all his work, he became the highest paid man in entertainment in 2011. He made over $130 million between 2010 and 2011. Tyler has more shows lined up for us and with older famous shows, he has a net worth of $600 million. Today, he owns a 25,545 sq.ft mansion in LA which he custom built on 22.5 acres. More recently, in 2017, he bought another mansion for over $14 million.
Perry is also active on various social media platforms. He has a massive fan following and is one of the most influential figures on these platforms. You can find and follow him on the links presented below. What are you waiting for?
Instagram: tylerperry
Twitter: @tylerperry
