NEWNAN, Ga. – Movie mogul Tyler Perry delivered on a Christmas promise when he handed the keys of a new four-bedroom house to an 88-year-old woman who lost her rural Georgia home to a fire.
Rosa Lee Ransby and her seven grand- and great-grandchildren lost their home a week before Christmas.
NEWNAN, Ga. – Movie mogul Tyler Perry delivered on a Christmas promise when he handed the keys of a new four-bedroom house to an 88-year-old woman who lost her rural Georgia home to a fire.
Rosa Lee Ransby and her seven grand- and great-grandchildren lost their home a week before Christmas.
LOS ANGELES — Tyler Perry's mother, a longtime preschool teacher who inspired his popular Madea character, has died. She was 64.
"Willie Maxine Perry. February 12, 1945 to December 8, 2009. Thank you for all your prayers," Perry wrote Tuesday on his official Web site.
The talented actor and producer did not reveal the cause of death.
Perry's mother taught at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center for most of her life. He previously admitted that she was the inspiration behind one of his most popular characters.
"My mother is the wisdom of Madea," he said in a 2006 interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In October, the 40-year-old star revealed that he was abused by his father as a child. In an emotional open letter posted on his Web site, Perry confessed that "as I child I always thought I would die before I grew up." The New Orleans native told his fans that many of his childhood emotions recently came out after watching a screening of Precious, the critically-acclaimed movie that he executive produced with Oprah Winfrey. In the midst of seeing the film, which centers around a 16-year-old girl who is physically and emotionally abused, Perry said he realized "a large part of my childhood had just played out before my eyes."
Perry ended by urging others who have faced similar hurdles to forgive those who have hurt them, saying "forgiveness has been my weapon of choice. It has helped to free me."
"If you're having a hard time getting over something in your life, maybe you can try forgiveness too," he said. "It's not easy, but it does bring forth healing. I know that there are a lot of people out there with stories far worse than mine but you, too, can make it. To those of you who have, welcome to life. I celebrate you. We're all PRECIOUS in His sight."
LOS ANGELES — Tyler Perry has donated $1 million to the NAACP, the largest gift in history by an individual entertainer to the country's oldest and largest civil rights organization.
"I feel so honored and blessed to be in a position where I can give to the NAACP," said the 40-year-old star. "Had it not been for the perseverance and vision of the thousands who came before me in the 100 years of this legendary organization, I would not be in the position I am in today. I continue to be thankful for the tireless work of the NAACP, and I am proud to be able to help in their mission to fight for the equality of all people, and to work towards the elimination of discrimination against race."
The gift, which will be distributed over the next four years, was made to commemorate the organization's centennial anniversary. It will be used to support advocacy programs on economic equality, education, health care and criminal justice.
"Tyler is a courageous pioneer in bringing positive images of African American culture and struggles to the screen," said Julian Bond, Chairman of the NAACP. "His remarkable journey from poverty and childhood abuse to become one of the world's most successful filmmakers and entrepreneurs is an inspiration to us all."
"Tyler Perry exemplifies an unyielding commitment to uplifting and bringing hope to the disenfranchised and those less fortunate," added Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP. "Both in his films and in his life, he reflects an impressive ethos of caring and conscientiousness. We are deeply grateful for his support."
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Tyler Perry has fired back at Spike Lee after the Do the Right Thing director questioned his work.
In May, Lee dismissed Perry's TBS sitcoms Meet the Browns and House of Payne as "coonery" and "buffoonery" during an interview with Ed Gordon on Our World with Black Enterprise.
LOS ANGELES — Tyler Perry is opening up about his horrific past, revealing that he was sexually and physically abused as a child.
In an emotional open letter posted on his Web site, Perry confesses that "as I child I always thought I would die before I grew up." The New Orleans native tells his fans that many of his childhood emotions recently came out after watching a screening of "Precious," a movie that he executive produced with Oprah Winfrey. In the midst of seeing the film, which centers around a 16-year-old girl who is physically and emotionally abused, Perry says he realized "a large part of my childhood had just played out before my eyes."
"It took me through some raw emotions and brought me to some things and places in my life that I needed to deal with but had long forgotten," writes the Hollywood star, who turned 40 in September. "It brought back memories so strong that I can smell and taste them."
Perry then recalls several painful memories from his childhood, including a night when his father came home drunk.
"He got the vacuum cleaner extension cord and trapped me in a room and beat me until the skin was coming off my back," he writes. "To this day, I don't know what would make a person do something like that to a child."
Perry also recalls a time when he was about 10 and his friend's mother sexually abused him.
"She told her son to take a bath and she locked him in the bathroom," he remembers. "I was at the front door trying to get out, when she came in and laid on the sofa and asked me if I wanted the key. I told her I had to go home as it was getting dark. She put the key inside of herself and told me to come get it, pulling me on top of her."
In another painful memory, Perry recalls a time when his father's adoptive mother became upset that he was going to the doctor's every week for shots to control his asthma. He says she gave him "a bath in ammonia," telling him "she was going to kill these germs on me once and for all."
"I was asked recently how I made it through all of this, (half has not even been told) and my answer to that is...I know for a fact that there is a GOD," Perry writes. "When my father would say or do those things to me, I would hear this voice inside of me say, 'That's not true' or, 'Don't believe that' or, 'You're going to make it through this.' I didn't know at the time what 'it' was, but today I surely have no doubt that 'it' was GOD. That voice always gave me comfort. It allowed me to hold on. It kept me from being strung out on drugs, from dying when I wanted to commit suicide. It kept me from being a gang banger or drug dealer. Worse than all of those things put together, it kept me from being him. It brought angels to comfort me after every foul, harsh word or every welt on my legs or back GOD, only GOD."
Perry ends by urging others who have faced similar hurdles to forgive those who have hurt them, saying "forgiveness has been my weapon of choice. It has helped to free me."
"If you're having a hard time getting over something in your life, maybe you can try forgiveness too," he says. "It's not easy, but it does bring forth healing. I know that there are a lot of people out there with stories far worse than mine but you, too, can make it. To those of you who have, welcome to life. I celebrate you. We're all PRECIOUS in His sight."
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