Tyler Perry has come a long way from his tough childhood growing up in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The Madea star was born Emmitt Perry Jr. to mom Willie Maxine Perry and dad Emmitt Perry Sr ., and has previously described his childhood, which was marred with poverty and abuse, as a living hell.

When he was 16, he took on the first name Tyler to distance himself from his father, and in his 20s, he moved to Atlanta, where he began his career as a playwright, filmmaker and actor.

© Getty Images Tyler at the 2005 premiere of Diary of a Mad Black Woman, the beginning of the Madea franchise

Stepping into the spotlight

He made his directorial debut in 2006 with an adaptation of Madea's Family Reunion, which has spawned into a wide-ranging franchise of movies that he has both starred in a

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