The Boys - 2023 - S03 E02

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 the consequences of one's actions. The character also appeared in sketches on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.[3][4]

Madea was born in Greensburg, Louisiana[5] on June 26, 1935, and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and it was confirmed in Boo 2! A Madea Halloween, when she went to a police station and saw her name on a wanted poster.

In the title sequence to Madea Goes to Jail, her suspended driver's license indicates her birth date as April 26, 1962.

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 87.

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.

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