Perry was born in New Orleans, one of four children. His father, Emmitt, was a carpenter and construction worker, and his mother, Maxine, was a pre-school teacher and worked at the New Orleans Jewish Community Center for most of her life. His childhood in New Orleans was marked by poverty and physical abuse. He was once homeless and lived in his car for three months. Perry is a Christian.

Perry, whose work is aimed at a primarily African-American audience, ultimately created a successful touring theater company. Recordings of some plays were subsequently sold on video and DVD. As of March 2005, Perry's plays had grossed over $75 million in ticket and DVD sales.

Perry stated in a January 2004 interview in Ebony magazine that his theater productions were designed to be a bridge between the traditional urban theater circuit--historically and pejoratively referred to as the "chitlin' circuit"--and a more traditional theater format.

Perry's other highly successful plays include Diary of a Mad Black Woman, I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Madea's Family Reunion and Madea's Class Reunion. He also wrote and created the hit plays Why Did I Get Married? featuring R&B singer Kelly Price and later the DVD version featured Cheryl Pepsii Riley and Tony Grant and Meet the Browns featuring Terrell Phillips, Terrell Carter, and David and Tamela Mann (Perry did not appear in either production). In 2005, Perry returned to the stage with another successful hit, Madea Goes to Jail. Another play, What's Done in the Dark, which Perry wrote and directed but does not appear in, went on tour beginning in September 2006. The tour of the play ended May 13, 2007 but returned for another run in September. The video was filmed in Charlotte, NC and will be released February 12, 2008. Perry's most recent stage production is The Marriage Counselor which premiered in January 2008, touring through May 2008. This production features Tony Grant, Taimak Guarriello and Tamar Davis.

His first movie, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, produced on a budget of $5.5 million, became an unexpected hit, prompting widespread discussion among industry watchers about whether middle-class African Americans were simply not being addressed by mainstream Hollywood movies. Its final gross box office receipts were $50.6 million. On opening weekend, February 24, 2006, Perry's film version of Madea's Family Reunion opened at number one with $22 million and a $14,770 per screen average. The film eventually grossed $65 million, and like Diary, almost all of it in the United States. The film was jump-started by an hour-long appearance by Perry and his co-stars on the influential Oprah Winfrey show.

His next project for Lions Gate Entertainment, Daddy's Little Girls, starring Gabrielle Union, was released in the U.S. on February 14, 2007. It grossed over $31 million. Perry wrote, directed, produced, and starred in his next movie, Why Did I Get Married, which was released on October 12, 2007. It opened as the #1 grossing $21.4 million dollars at the box office that weekend. It is loosely based on the play. Filming began March 5, 2007, in Whistler, British Columbia; Vancouver, then Atlanta, where Perry recently opened his own studio. Janet Jackson, Sharon Leal and Jill Scott appear in the film.

His upcoming films include an adaptation of his play Meet the Browns, scheduled for March 2008 featuring Angela Bassett and Tyler will reprise himself as Madea and Uncle Joe, Madea's naughty trash talking brother. Madea Goes to Jail the movie is scheduled for a fall 2008 release followed by A Jazzman's Blues, which is slated for 2009 and will be Perry's seventh film with Lionsgate. Perry will star as the jazz singer in the movie.

Also, in his first film outside of his own projects, Perry will play the superintendent of Starfleet Academy in JJ Abrams' new Star Trek film.

Perry produced a television show titled Tyler Perry's House of Payne, which follows a working-class, African-American household with three generations of family within it. The show seeks to illustrate struggles with faith and love, as well as showing how to coexist with the generation gap. The show ran briefly in Spring 2006 as a 10 show pilot. After a successful pilot run, Perry signed a $200 million dollar 100 episode deal with TBS. On June 6, 2007, Tyler Perry's first two episodes of House of Payne ran on TBS. Due to high ratings, House of Payne is now in syndication. Re-runs will play through December 2007 before the second season begins. House of Payne will air on FOX network beginning September 2008. Meet The Browns is Perry's next sitcom starring David Mann and Tamela Mann.

Perry's first novel, Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life, hit bookstores April 11, 2006. The book is written from Madea's point of view, and offers commentary about love, relationships, and family. In its first five days in stores, the book sold more than 25,000 copies. The hardcover hit Number One on the New York Times Best Seller list and stayed on the list for twelve weeks. It was voted the Book of the Year and Best Humor Book at the 2006 Quill Awards.