Keshia Knight Pulliam is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, and landed her breakthrough role as Rudy Huxtable, on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992), which earned her a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards. She later starred as Miranda Lucas-Payne on the TBS comedy drama Tyler Perry's House of Payne (2007–present).
Tyler Perry is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her nephew Brian Simmons. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmaking techniques to filmed productions of live stage plays. Many of his stage-play films have been subsequently adapted as feature films. Madea's first appearance was in Perry's play I Can Do Bad All by Myself (1999) staged in Chicago.
Mable "Madea" Earlene Simmons is a character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. She is portrayed as a tough, street-smart elderly African-American woman.
Madea's Family Reunion is a 2006 American comedy-drama film and an adaptation of the stage production of the same name written by Tyler Perry. The film is a sequel to Diary of a Mad Black Woman. It was written, directed by, and starring Perry with the rest of the cast consisting of Blair Underwood, Lynn Whitfield, Boris Kodjoe, Henry Simmons, Lisa Arrindell Anderson, Maya Angelou, Rochelle Aytes, Jenifer Lewis, Tangi Miller, Keke Palmer, and Cicely Tyson. The film tells the story of Madea preparing for an upcoming family reunion while dealing with the dramas before and during it. It was released on February 24, 2006, nearly one year following its predecessor, Diary of a Mad Black Woman. The independent film was produced by Lionsgate.
Meet the Browns is an 2004 American stage play written, produced and directed by Tyler Perry. It stars David & Tamela Mann as Mr. Brown & Cora, as they head off to see Brown's side of the family. The play is a spin off of 2003's Madea's Class Reunion, where it's revealed at the ending that Brown is Cora's long-lost father. The live performance released on VHS and DVD on October 27, 2004 was recorded live in Cleveland at the Palace Theatre in October 2004.
Madea Goes to Jail is an 2005 American stage play that was written, produced, and directed by Tyler Perry in 2005. It stars Tyler Perry as Mabel "Madea" Simmons and Cassi Davis as Ella Kincaid. The live performance released on DVD on June 27, 2006 was recorded live in Atlanta at the Fabulous Fox Theatre in October 2005. The DVD was released alongside Why Did I Get Married? and Madea's Family Reunion.
Tyler Perry's House of Payne, also known as simply House of Payne, is an American sitcom television series created and produced by Tyler Perry that premiered in syndication on June 21, 2006.
Rochelle Aytes is an American actress and model. She is best known for her role as April Malloy on ABC drama series Mistresses (2013–16) and as the voice of Rochelle in the critically acclaimed video game Left 4 Dead 2 (2009). Aytes also starred in the auto-biography story film of TLC titled CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story as Perri "Pebbles" Reid, short-lived series Drive and The Forgotten (2009–10), as well as Criminal Minds and Work It. In film, Aytes has appeared in White Chicks, Madea's Family Reunion and Trick 'r Treat. Aytes also had a recurring role as Agent Greer, an ex-CIA officer, on the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0.
What's Done in the Dark (Will Come to the Light) is an 2007 American stage play written, directed and produced by Tyler Perry. The show first opened in September 2006. The play focuses on two nurses, one of whom is a single mother and the other of whom is having an affair with a doctor, and an eccentric hypochondriac patient, Mr. Brown. It stars Tamela Mann as Cora and David Mann as Mr. Brown. The live performance released on DVD on February 12, 2008 was taped in Charlotte at the Ovens Auditorium in May 2007.
Meet the Browns is a 2008 American romantic comedy-drama film released by Lionsgate on March 21, 2008. The film was based on the play of the same name by Tyler Perry and is the third film in the Madea cinematic universe. It was written and directed by Tyler Perry with Ruben Cannon helping with the writing, and starring Angela Bassett, Rick Fox, Margaret Avery, Frankie Faison, Jenifer Lewis, Lance Gross, Sofía Vergara, Lamman Rucker, Tamela Mann, Tyler Perry, and introducing David Mann in his film debut as Leroy Brown. The film tells the story of a struggling single mother from Chicago who takes her children to Georgia to attend her long-lost father's funeral and meets the relatives she didn't know she had.
Madea Goes to Jail is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry, which was based on his 2006 play, and starring Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Ion Overman, RonReaco Lee, Sofía Vergara, Vanessa Ferlito, and Viola Davis. The film tells the story of Madea going to prison for her uncontrollable anger management problems as she befriends a young incarcerated prostitute that an assistant district attorney knows since college. The film was released on February 20, 2009. It is the fourth film in the Madea cinematic universe as it follows up from the cameo appearance of Madea in the previous film Meet the Browns and it features Cora and Mr. Brown from that film.
LaVan Davis is an American actor who played the character Curtis Payne on Tyler Perry's TV shows House of Payne and The Paynes, TBS Network (2007–2012), OWN Network (2018) and BET Network (2020–present).
Cassandra Davis-Patton is an American actress best known for her role as Ella Payne on Tyler Perry's House of Payne and its spin-off series The Paynes. She is also known as Aunt Bam in the Madea franchise since 2010. She has starred in several other productions under the direction of Tyler Perry.
Meet the Browns is an American sitcom created and produced by Tyler Perry. The Initial story of the show revolves around Mr. Brown running a senior citizen's home in Decatur, Georgia, with his daughter Cora Simmons. However, as the show progresses, this idea is gradually phased out and it becomes a typical family sitcom about a multigenerational clan living under one roof. The show premiered on Wednesday, January 7, 2009, and finished its run on November 18, 2011 on TBS.
I Can Do Bad All by Myself is a 2009 American romantic musical comedy-drama film which was released on September 11, 2009. The film was directed, produced, and written by Tyler Perry, who also makes an appearance in the film as his signature character Madea. The rest of the cast consists of Taraji P. Henson, Adam Rodriguez, Brian White, Mary J. Blige, Gladys Knight, and Marvin L. Winans. Although the film and play share the same title, the film is not an adaptation of Perry's play of the same name; the two works have different storylines as this film tells the story of an alcoholic lounge singer who is persuaded to take the custody of her niece and nephews by Madea after she catches them breaking into her house and their grandmother has gone missing. Both are named for a lyric in the Changing Faces song "G.H.E.T.T.O.U.T.". It is the fifth film in the Madea franchise.
Very Perry Productions LLC, doing business as Tyler Perry Studios (TPS), is an American film production studio in Atlanta, Georgia founded by actor, filmmaker, and playwright Tyler Perry in 2006.
Roger Marcellus Bobb is the President and CEO of Bobbcat Films, a film and television production company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Prior to creating Bobbcat films, Bobb served as the Executive Vice President of Tyler Perry Studios.
Madea's Witness Protection is a 2012 American comedy film directed, written and produced by Tyler Perry. The film stars Perry, Eugene Levy, Denise Richards, Doris Roberts, Romeo Miller, Tom Arnold, John Amos, and Marla Gibbs. It is the fourteenth film by Perry and the seventh installment in the Madea cinematic universe. It is the fourth Perry film not to be adapted from a play, alongside The Family That Preys, Daddy's Little Girls, and Good Deeds, as well as the first Madea film not to be adapted from a play. It tells the story about Madea being a host to a family that the FBI has entered into the witness protection program due to the fact that the patriarch has been the CFO of a company that a crime family was using to further their Ponzi schemes.
A Madea Christmas is a 2013 American Christmas comedy film directed, written, produced by and starring Tyler Perry with the rest of the cast consisting of Kathy Najimy, Chad Michael Murray, Anna Maria Horsford, Tika Sumpter, Eric Lively, JR Lemon, Alicia Witt, Lisa Whelchel, and Larry the Cable Guy. This is the first Christmas-themed film from the writer-director as it tells the story of Madea going to the fictional town of Bucktussle, Alabama with her great-niece to spend Christmas with the great-niece's daughter as financial trouble involving a newly-constructed dam threatens the town. This is the seventeenth film by Perry, and the eighth film in the Madea cinematic universe. The film was released on December 13, 2013 by Lionsgate.
Demetria Dyan McKinney is an American actress, model, and singer. From 2006 to 2012, during its original run, she starred in the TBS sitcom Tyler Perry's House of Payne, a BET revival of the show was announced in 2020. Her other series regular roles include TV One sitcom The Rickey Smiley Show, Bounce TV prime time soap opera Saints & Sinners and Syfy horror drama Superstition, as well as Motherland: Fort Salem on Freeform.
