Myrtle Simmons (daughter-in-law; both versions of Diary of a Mad Black Woman and Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Nikki Grady-Simmons (adopted; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Relatives
Helen McCarter (granddaughter; both versions of Diary of Mad Black Woman)
Jackie (granddaughter; Madea's Family Reunion The Play)
Gina (granddaughter)
Vianne (granddaughter; I Can Do Bad All By Myself The Play)
Maylee (granddaughter; I Can Do Bad All By Myself The Play)
Lisa (granddaughter; Madea's Family Reunion The Play)
Tina (granddaughter; Madea's Family Reunion The Play)
Darlene (granddaughter; Madea's Farewell)
Laura (granddaughter; A Madea Homecoming)
Ellie (granddaughter; A Madea Homecoming)
Robin (granddaughter; Madea's Farewell)
Charles McCarter (grandson-in-law)
Orlando (grandson-in-law)
Keisha (great-granddaughter)
Shemar (great-granddaughter)
Malik (great-grandson; Madea's Farewell)
Titi (great-granddaughter; Madea's Farewell)
Timothy (great-grandson; A Madea Homecoming)
Ruby (aunt; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Vickie (niece)
Shirley (niece; Madea's Big Happy Family)
Angela (niece)
Eileen Murphy (niece; A Madea Christmas The Film)
Sonny (nephew; Madea Goes to Jail The Play)
Brian (nephew; films)
Donna (niece; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Victoria Breaux (niece; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Vianne (niece; A Madea Family Funeral)
Isaac (nephew; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Anthony (nephew-in-law; A Madea Family Funeral)
Mike (grandnephew)
Tiffany (grandniece; films)
BJ (grandnephew; films)
Lisa Breaux (grandniece; Madea's Family Reunion The Movie)
Vanessa Breaux-Henderson (grandniece; Madea's Family Reunion The Movie)
Nima (great-grandniece)
Jonathan (great-grandnephew)
AJ (grandnephew; A Madea Family Funeral)
Silvia (grandniece; A Madea Family Funeral)
Jesse (grandnephew; A Madea Family Funeral)
Jason (grandnephew-in-law; Madea's Big Happy Family The Play)
Calvin (grandnephew-in-law; Madea's Big Happy Family The Film)
Harold (grandnephew-in-law; Madea's Big Happy Family)
Will (grandnephew-in-law)
Carol (grandniece-in-law)
Lacey Murphy (grandniece; A Madea Christmas The Film)
Kimberly (grandniece; Madea's Big Happy Family The Film)
Tammy (grandniece; Madea's Big Happy Family The Play)
Byron (great-grandnephew; Madea's Big Happy Family)
H.J. (great-grandnephew; Madea's Big Happy Family The Film)
Will (great-grandnephew; Madea's Big Happy Family The Film)
C.J. (great-grandnephew; Madea's Big Happy Family The Film)
Sarah (cousin; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
May (cousin; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Pete (cousin; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Isaac Sr. (cousin; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Grover (cousin; Madea's Family Reunion The Film)
Aunt Bam (cousin; both plays and films)
Mabel "Madea" Earlene Simmons is a character created and portrayed by Tyler Perry. She is portrayed as a tough, street-smart elderly African-American woman.[1]
Madea is based on Perry's mother and his aunt. In Perry's own words, Madea is "exactly the PG version of my mother and my aunt, and I loved having an opportunity to pay homage to them. She would beat the hell out of you but make sure the ambulance got there in time to make sure they could set your arm back because the love was there inside all of it".[2]
The Madea films and plays are comedies, but all contain serious themes and are intended to deliver moral messages about issues such as infidelity, spousal abuse and consequences of one's actions.
Madea also appears outside of her movie universe in two sketches on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, in one occasion as the White House Press Secretary and the second cameo as herself, always aside Fallon's impression of then president Donald Trump.[3][4]
Fictional biography
Early years
Madea is said to be born in Greensburg, Louisiana[5] on June 26, 1935, and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, but in Madea Goes to Jail her drivers license in the beginning of the film her birth is revealed to be April 26, 1962 which would make her 61 years old.
Her age varies in different movies and plays. Madea was 68 in the first play, I Can Do Bad All by Myself, as well as Madea's Class Reunion. In A Madea Homecoming, set in 2022, it is said she is 95 years old, but with a birth year of 1935, she would actually be 88.
She is described as being brought up in poverty, growing up in a shotgun house with her parents and siblings. Madea has stated that although her family didn't have much, they had love.[6]
When she was in her early teens, her family moved to Atlanta, Georgia, where they lived on the west side. She attended Booker T. Washington High School and was a cheerleader. In I Can Do Bad All by Myself, we learn that she once lived in Cleveland, Alabama, but later returned to Atlanta.
According to A Madea Christmas: The Play, Madea's mother, "Big Mabel" Murphy, was a hooker during Madea's childhood and was not at all religious. Madea grew up with little knowledge of religion, explaining why she has a tendency to misquote the Bible. Madea makes frequent reference to herself once being a hooker and a stripper.
Her maiden name is not stated, but it is presumably either Baker or Murphy, the last names of her father and mother, respectively.
It is not revealed where and when she met her first husband, Johnny. Madea and Johnny had their first child, Michelle, as young teens, possibly 15 or 16. When Madea was 18, she got pregnant with her other daughter, Cora, through a one-night stand. Sometime later, Madea and Johnny had a son, William. All of her children are said to be married and had children. Madea and Johnny raised two of their grandchildren, Maylee and Vianne "Khazzy" Simmons, after their daughter's death from drug addiction.
In Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea and her granddaughter Helen McCarter were both arrested and charged with "criminal trespassing, reckless endangerment, criminal possession of a handgun, assault with a deadly weapon, [driving on a] suspended license, expired registration, reckless driving, and a broken taillight". This caused Judge Mablean Ephriam to place Madea on house arrest while Helen was placed on a bail of $5,000.00.
In Madea's Family Reunion, Madea was brought before Judge Ephriam once again after she removed her ankle monitor in order to purchase her brother Joe's medication, in effect violating her house arrest. After rigorous efforts, Brian was finally able to persuade Madea to accept Judge Ephraim's ruling to become the foster mother of Nikki Grady.
In Meet the Browns, Madea was arrested for causing a high speed chase following a routine traffic stop, resisting arrest, and assaulting a police officer while Joe fled the area claiming that Madea kidnapped him.
In Madea Goes to Jail, Madea was brought before Judge Ephriam because of the car chase in the last film. Because Brian and assistant district attorney Linda Davis brought up the fact that the arresting police officers failed to read Madea her Miranda rights, Judge Ephriam scolded the police officers that were present for that negligence. Because of this, Judge Ephriam lets Madea go on a technicality while suspending her already suspended driver's license and having her undergo anger management therapy that was overseen by Phil McGraw. Later on, she was arrested once again for removing a woman's Pontiac Solstice with a forklift and damaging it in the parking lot of the Big Kmart after the woman stole Madea's parking spot. She was sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison by Judge Greg Mathis. This is later overturned due to the illegal tampering of Linda Davis and she is part of the "Georgia Seven" that are released.
In Madea's Big Happy Family, Madea smashes her car into the fast-food restaurant Snax out of frustration that the manager Sabrina won't give her food, even using excuses related to her Cadillac's technical problems in order to persuade the manager to give her food while waiting. No police action was brought up.
In the animated film Madea's Tough Love, Madea is arrested for excessive damage to public property (which she unintentionally committed while chasing after two unruly skateboarders), two bench warrants, 25 unpaid parking tickets, and an unpaid speeding ticket. Judge Michaels sentences her to do community service work at the Moms Mabley Youth Center. In addition, Judge Michaels had a special ankle monitor placed on Madea to make sure she does her community service and enlists two police officers to keep an eye on her. After Madea attacks mayoral candidate Betsy Holiday, Judge Michaels reassigns Madea to fulfill the rest of her sentence on house arrest much to the annoyance of Joe. Madea was released from the sentence when the truth about Betsy's secret illegal activities were exposed proving that Madea was right about her.
Media and entertainment featuring Madea
Madea has appeared in several plays (some of which have been recorded for repeated viewing), fully produced films, a couple of television programs (guest appearances), one book and one animated film. The character made her first appearance in the 1999 play I Can Do Bad All by Myself, later appearing in numerous other plays by Perry, then appearing in films based on those plays.
In the TBScomedy dramaHouse of Payne pilot episode "Bully and the Beast", Madea was the foster mother of Nikki. She factored into the plot through a school altercation between her adopted daughter and Curtis Payne's great-nephew Malik. Curtis takes a particular disliking to Madea who is not in the least bit intimidated by Curtis at all. Rather conversely, Curtis became intimidated by Madea and had nightmares about her.[11]
In the episode "The Wench Who Saved Christmas", Curtis tries to discourage everyone from having the Christmas spirit. He later fell asleep and dreamt that Madea was the Ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. In this form, she tried to teach him a lesson about his killjoy behaviour.[12]
In the episode "Wife Swap", Curtis' wife Ella chastises him for taking her for granted. That night, Curtis has an extended nightmare where he is married to Madea instead of Ella.[13]
Meet the Browns (mentioned)
On another TBS series, Meet the Browns, Mable is said to be the mother of Cora Simmons as a result of a one-night stand with the show's lead character. She is an unseen character throughout the series.[14]
In 2009, Entertainment Weekly put the character on its end-of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "Whether she's going to jail or just opening up a can of whupass, Tyler Perry's Madea is the profane, gun-toting granny you never had but (maybe) wish you did."[16]
On April 1, 2013, Orlando Jones pulled an April Fools' Day prank, informing the public via his Huffington Post account that he would be replacing Perry as Madea. Jones led the public to believe that the decision had come amid Perry's prior obligations, assisting Oprah Winfrey with her struggling OWN network. As part of the prank, Jones released a photo of himself to the public in which he was impersonating Madea. In addition, he incorporated several pretend quotes seemingly issued by Perry, both acknowledging the news and giving Jones his blessing to continue on with the character. Unaware of the prank, fans responded with outrage and criticism. As result of increasing outcries from fans, Perry informed the public on April 15, 2013, that the news was untrue. Perry was quoted as stating "That was an April Fool's joke that HE did. Not true. And not funny. When I'm done with Madea, she is done."[17]
Perry has been accused of minstrelsy and playing into black stereotypes with the Madea character, most notably by fellow black director Spike Lee. Perry's argument with Lee dates back to a 2009 interview in which Lee referred to Perry's films as "coonery buffoonery".[18] Lee equated the Madea movies with the old-time minstrel shows which lampooned black people as dim-witted, lazy, buffoonish, superstitious and happy-go-lucky,[19][20] and further stated that if a white director made a movie depicting black people in such a manner he would be ostracised.[18] Perry responded by stating that his films were meant as entertainment and should not be taken so seriously, saying, "I am sick of him talking about me. I am sick of him saying, 'This is a coon, this is a buffoon.' I am sick of him talking about black people going to see movies. This is what he said: 'You vote by what you see'—as if black people don't know what they want to see. I am sick of him. He talked about Whoopi, he talked about Oprah, he talked about me, he talked about Clint Eastwood. Spike needs to shut the hell up!"[21] Perry has been criticised for stereotyping black femininity using black masculinity.[22] Some critics believe that the characterization of Madea, in addition to other black women featured in Madea films, works to legitimise harmful and damaging stereotypes. There is growing concern around these depictions of blackness as critics believe they can have a negative impact on how black women see themselves in society and how they are perceived by others.[23] In addition, Tyler Perry's role as Madea has received criticism due to some viewing his cross-gender acting as a misappropriation of drag culture. Critics have alleged Tyler Perry perpetuates patriarchal ideology through his characterisation of Madea and her interactions with other protagonists.[24]
The character was parodied on The Boondocks episode "Pause" (2010; S03 E07), in which a thinly disguised version of Perry named Winston Jerome (voiced by Affion Crockett) plays a similar character to Madea called Ma Duke.[26]
In the South Park episode Funnybot (2011; S15 E02), Perry (voiced by Trey Parker) played his character Madea after being repeatedly paid by Tolkien Black after every joke, and was trapped in a metallic shell by the Americans and the Germans to be left underground at the conclusion.[citation needed]
Madea was parodied in the American satirical horror film Scary Movie 5 (2013), directed by Malcolm D. Lee. Madea was portrayed by actor Lewis Thompson.[28]
Madea and Tyler Perry are both parodied in an upcoming spoof movie Not Another Church Movie (2024), with the name Taylor Pharry with the H being silent.
