Born into poverty and raised in a household scarred by abuse, Tyler Perry learned from a young age to find the strength, faith, and perseverance that would later form the foundations of his much-acclaimed plays, films, books, and movies. Once named Forbes’ highest-paid man in 2014, Perry has grown to a net worth of over $1 Billion.
Perry wrote and produced many stage plays, which were at their successful peak in the 1990s and the 2000s. His breakthrough performance came in 2005 with the film Diary of a Mad Black Woman, which he wrote and produced as an adaptation of his stage play of the same name. He also developed numerous television series, most notably Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, which ran for eight seasons on TBS from 2006 to 2012, before being renewed in 2020. In 2011, Forbes listed him as the highest-paid man in entertainment, earning $130 million between May 2010 and May 2011. In 2012, Perry struck an exclusive multi-year partnership with Oprah Winfrey and her Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). The deal featured scripted projects such as The Haves and the Have Nots. The Haves and the Have Nots has given OWN its highest series ratings to date, with the series also referred to as “one of OWN’s biggest success stories with its weekly dose of soapy fun, filled with the typical betrayals, affairs, and manipulations. In 2019, he produced the political drama series The Oval for BET.
Outside of his own productions, Perry has been cast in numerous Hollywood films including Star Trek (2009), Alex Cross (2012), Gone Girl (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016), Vice (2018), Those Who Wish Me Dead (2021), and Don’t Look Up (2021). Perry has also done voice acting for animated films such as The Star (2017) and Paw Patrol: The Movie (2021).
Perry’s films and shows have cumulatively grossed over $660 million making him one of the richest people in the entertainment industry.
As Perry reflects on his 56th birthday, so many emotions arise–both good and bad. But he takes it all in stride.
“The fifty-five reflection is so beautiful and so freeing!” exclaimed Perry on Instagram last year after his birthday. “Here’s to life, here’s to every dreamer and their dream, may all that’s good in your life get better!”
His success also includes record-breaking book sales, documentaries, and sold-out tours.
All of which makes him the sought-after Hollywood heavyweight he is now.
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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 became a form of healing for Perry.
He spent all the money but the people never came. He spent months sleeping in seedy motels and his car but his faith – in God and, in turn, himself – only got stronger. This is even after Perry’s childhood being a living nightmare.
But even through all that, he kept writing.
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In 1998 his perseverance paid off. And so began an incredible run of 13 plays in as many years.
And through all of that, his mother was there for him, supporting him and cheering him on. In a very touching Facebook post, Perry reflects on his mother:
“Every morning that I can remember until I was 41, I woke up to the voice of my mother singing “Happy Birthday” to me.
Be it when I was a kid in my room or when I was older and had moved away, she would call on the phone and sing her heart out. How I miss her voice, off-key and all… lol.”
I don’t mind a group singing it so much, but one singular voice haunts me.”
“Just by natural reflex, I woke up this morning, being half asleep, I reached for the phone to see if she had left a message, but then I realized that she died years ago.
In the split second that it took me to wake up fully I felt a wave of sadness come over me. Then, I heard her voice in my head saying “Baby, count your blessings. God is good.” My tinge of sadness went immediately into a prayer of praise.”
However, Perry remembered all of his heavenly blessings, just as his mother instructed Tyler to remember.
“Thank you for my mother. Thank you that she taught me how to pray to you. God thank you for another year. God thank you for loving me. God thank you for blessing me. God thank you for my beautiful son. God thank you that his life is restoring mine to joy. God thank you for the blood of Jesus that allows me to be forgiven and helps me to overcome.”
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