Hollywood mogul Tyler Perry is one of the biggest success stories in American history. Coming from extremely humble starting, the multi-hyphened superstar clawed his way out of poverty and is now one of the wealthiest entertainers in the world.
Perry not so far sat down with rapper Killer Mike for his series Love & Respect on Revolt TV to discuss his journey and the stuffs he has never forgotten along the path from his times heavy in the struggle. Let’s take a deep on Perry’s history and see.
how long he’s come from just having 60 cookies to eat for a week to owning one of the huge production studios in the country. Tyler Perry was born Emmitt Perry Jr. and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. One of 4 kids, Perry’s parents, were Willie Maxine Perry and Emmitt Perry Jr.
Tyler Perry has spoken very candidly about his dad’s abuse throughout his career, causing a young Tyler to even consider ending his own life to escape his childhood. That trauma followed Perry for years and was the foundation of much of his work and wants to escape.
He attributes so much of his success to where he came from, telling Killer Mike that he was “running so difficult to get away.” His life of hardness followed him into adulthood. Perry ended up getting the inspiration to be a writer from an episode of Oprah.
in which he overheard Winfrey and a guest talking writing as a form of therapy. He took this to heart and began penning letters to himself, which would form the basis of Tyler’s 1st play, “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” amongst other works. At 22,
Perry packed up his life and went to Atlanta to pursue his acting and writer dreams. Once he came there, it would be a painful 2 years before his stage debut. During this time, he revealed about being broke and even living out of his car for some time
Speaking with Killer Mike, Perry says these were the moments that most shaped him and fueled his passion for success. Tyler Perry recalls a lady at the local Winn-Dixie being kind to him when he could not even pull together 80 cents for a pack of cookies.
The actor remember how the 60 pack of cookies would be all he had to hold him over for the week. That particular day, Perry could not look like to pull the change together and had a far line of people behind him waiting to check out.
The actor recalled a lady stepping up to make the purchase for him. Perry tells Killer Mike that he wishes he could discover her now to thank her before joking that a bunch of lady are going to come forward now and tell that they are her.
