Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry, Jr.; September 13, 1969) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, producer, author,[1] and songwriter. Perry wrote and produced many stage plays during the 1990s and early 2000s. He is known for creating, and performing in drag, the Mabel "Madea" Simmons character, a tough, vindictive, and overreactive elderly woman. He has created many feature films, starting with Diary of a Mad Black Woman, in 2005, featuring Madea.[2] In 2011, Forbes named him