Five things you might not know about Tyler Perry
theGRIO REPORT - ome love his work, some hate his work, but no one can deny the media empire he's built. The man is known the world over. But here are five things you might not know about Tyler Perry...
Some love his work, some hate his work, but no one can deny the media empire he’s built. The man is known the world over. But here are five things you might not know about Tyler Perry.
We all know he started out writing and producing plays on the “chitlin’ circuit.” And we all know he came up through a rough childhood.  But did you know that:
1. Tyler Perry changed his name.
Tyler Perry was born in New Orleans as Emmitt Perry Jr. But at age 16, he had his first name legally changed from “Emmitt” to “Tyler.” The change was reportedly an effort to distance himself from his father, Emmitt Sr., whom Tyler Perry once described as a man “whose answer to everything was to beat it out of you.”
2. Tyler Perry doesn’t know who his biological father is.
After harboring suspicions for years that the man who beat him regularly and whom he was named after was not his real father, Perry had DNA tests done. The first was with his brother, and the results confirmed that the two men did not have the same father. Later, he says he took a DNA test with Emmitt Perry Sr., which confirmed that the man was not his father.
3. Oprah ‘made’ Tyler Perry.
It was only after watching an episode of Oprah where one of the guests claimed that writing could be a cathartic experience that Tyler Perry decided to give it a try. This inspired him to start writing a series of letters to himself that later became the basis for a musical, I Know I’ve Been Changed. Only later in life would Tyler meet the woman whose influence turned the tide of his life.
4. His First Play was a Flop
Perry saved up all his money to produce the musical, I Know I’ve Been Changed. Based on heart-rending letters he wrote to himself, this would be his first foray into theater production. Perry set out for Atlanta and spent every dime he had booking venues and putting on the play … but no one showed up. Broke again, he slept in ratty hotels and even in his car.
5. Tyler Perry was abused as a child
In 2009, around the release of Precious, Perry released a written statement on his website outlining a history of his abuse as a child. He told his fans that he had been constantly beaten by his father, sexually abused by a friend of the family and even made to bathe in ammonia by his own grandmother.
