It’s no secret that Tyler Perry  endured many challenges on his climb to success. Despite his troubled childhood, he has accomplished what many only dream of. His story is one that is inspiring and is proof that where you come from does not determine where you’re going.  Tyler has built and entertainment empire in spite of the fact that…

1. Perry was born Emmitt Perry, Jr. but, at age 16,  changed his name to distance himself from his dad.
2. According to CNN, Tyler Perry was verbally abused and violently beaten by his father, Emmitt Perry Sr., until age 19.
3. Tyler Perry’s mother tried to save him and his sister by  driving them to California, but his father reported the car stolen, and the family went to jail until he picked them up.
4. In Us Magazine interview, Tyler Perry said his father “came home, mad at the world. He was drunk, as he was most of the time. He got the vacuum cleaner extension cord and trapped me in a room and beat me until the skin was coming off my back.”
5. His grandmother tried to to rid him of his allergies by giving him “a bath in ammonia.”
6. Perry attempted suicide twice and later was homeless.
7. He was molested by a friend’s mother at age 10; he was also molested by three men prior to this, and later learned his own father had molested his friend.
8. A DNA test Perry recently took confirmed that Emmitt Sr. is not Perry’s biological father.
9. While Perry did not complete high school, he earned a GED
10. At age 22, he financed his first play, I Know I’ve Been Changed, by using his $12,000 life savings.