Tyler Perry's Personal Life

Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry, Jr.; September 13, 1969) is an American actor, director, playwright, screenwriter, producer, author, and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays in the South during the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2005, he released his first film, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. In September 2011, Perry was ranked by Forbes magazine as the highest-paid entertainer in Hollywood beating such names as Jerry Bruckheimer and Steven Spielberg to the top spot. As of June 2011, Perry's films had grossed over $500 million worldwide.
Perry was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, as Emmitt Perry, Jr. His family consisted of three siblings, his mother, Willie Maxine Perry (née Campbell), and his father, Emmitt Perry, Sr., a carpenter. Perry once said of his father, "his only answer to everything was to beat it out of you." As a child, Perry once went so far as to attempt suicide in an effort to escape his father's beatings. In contrast to his father, his mother took him to church each week, where he sensed a certain refuge and contentment. At age 16, he had his first name legally changed from Emmitt to Tyler in an effort to distance himself from his father.
Many years later, after seeing the film Precious, he was moved to relate for the first time accounts of being molested by a friend's mother at age 10; he was also molested by three men previous to this, and later found out his own father had molested a friend.
While Perry did not complete high school, he earned a GED. In his early 20s, watching an Oprah Winfrey talk show, he heard someone describe the sometimes therapeutic effect that the act of writing can have, enabling the author to work out his or her own problems. This comment inspired him to apply himself to a career in writing. He soon started writing a series of letters to himself, which became the basis for the musical, I Know I've Been Changed.
Perry identifies as a devout Christian. He has become good friends with Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith and Janet Jackson. Many of the themes in Perry's work reflect theology and social behaviour indicative of the predominantly African American church culture. Many scenes in both Perry's stage and screen work include church settings and worship styles commonly found in predominantly African American churches, including showcasing gospel music and artists.
On July 20, 2009, Perry sponsored 65 children from a Philadelphia day camp to go to Walt Disney World, after reading that a suburban swim club (Valley Swim Club, Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania) had shunned them. Perry wrote on his website, "I want them to know that for every act of evil that a few people will throw at you, there are millions more who will do something kind for them."
On December 8, 2009, Tyler's mother, Willie Maxine Perry, died at the age of 64, following an illness. As of 2011, Perry remains unmarried. He lives and works in Southwest Atlanta where he operates the Tyler Perry movies and TV studios. In August 2010, it was reported that Perry had purchased Dean Gardens, a 58-acre (230,000 m2) estate in the Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek. Perry was reportedly planning to tear down the existing 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m2) mansion and build a new, environmentally friendly home on the property.