Black Celebrity Men

I'd like to send out my sincerest condolences to Tyler Perry and his family on the loss of his mother Willie Maxine Perry on Tuesday. She was 64 years old. As most of you know, Tyler's mother was his inspiration for the character Madea. Tyler announced her Tuesday death on his Web site, where he thanked fans for their prayers. He did not say where his mother died or anything about the cause. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Willie had been sick since last August. She was a preschool teacher who had worked at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center and was by all accounts a huge influence on Perry's upbringing and career. As a matter of fact, Perry owes much of his popularity to his portrayal of Madea, a sharp-tongued, iron-willed Southern matriarch played by Perry in a padded suit and wig. She is the central character in films and stage plays like Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion and Meet the Browns.

In an October interview, Perry told CBS' "60 Minutes" that the character is a celebration of strong black women who is based in part on his own mother

"Madea's a cross between my mother and my aunt — she's the type of grandmother that was on every corner when I was growing up... She's a strong figure where I come from, in my part of the African American community."

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