Mable "Madea" Simmons

Infobox character
colour
name = Mable Simmons


caption
first = I Can Do Bad All By Myself
cause = To Entertain
nickname = Madea
alias = Mable R. (maiden name)
gender = Female
born = May 29, 1935
death =
occupation = Bus Driver and a Stripper
title = Mrs. Simmons
spouse =
* Unnamed 1st Husband (deceased)
* Johnny Simmons (2nd husband; deceased)
* Unnamed 2nd - 17th husband (deceased)
children = Cora Jean Simmons (daughter, with Brown)
William Simmons (deceased son with Johnny)
Nichole "Nikki" Grady Simmons (adopted)Mrs. Simmons-Griffin (deceased daughter with Johnny)
relatives = Irene (sister; deceased)
Joseph "Joe" Baker (brother, only in movies)
Brian Baker (nephew, only in movies)

grandchildren = Tina Simmons (granddaughter; via Cora)
Lisa Simmons (granddaughter; via Cora)
Helen Simmons-McCarter (granddaughter; via William)
Gina Simmons (granddaughter; via William)
Jackie Simmons (granddaughter; via William )
Vianne Griffin (granddaughter; via Mrs. Griffin)
Maylee Griffin (granddaughter; via Mrs. Griffin)
Kiesha Griffin (great-granddaughter; via Mrs. Griffin) Shemor (great-granddaughter; via Tina)
portrayer = Tyler Perry
creater = Tyler Perry

Mabel "Madea" Simmons is a fictional character created by writer/director Tyler Perry. Based on Perry's mother and aunt, Madea is an aggressive, grey haired, bespectacled matriarch. She will argue with anyone, she also has the very frequent tendency to threaten people by pulling a gun out of her purse, and she has a penchant for her unique pronunciation and enunciation of words as reflected in her tag line, "I oughta punch chur in da face!" She is part of a large family, with many children and grandchildren. Her name is spelled variously as "Mabel" and "Mable," probably in order to confuse government authorities and others when applying for jobs, getting credit cards, etc.Fact|date=August 2008 She is portrayed by Tyler Perry himself in both the films and plays.

"Madea" or "Madear" is a typical Southern name for a grandmother. The term is a shortened form of "Mother Dear."

Although Madea was featured heavily in most of Tyler's plays and films, including Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion and most recently, Meet the Browns, the argument can be made that she is not the protagonist of them, but more so the comic relief to the play/film's dramatic setting.

Personal life

Madea was born in Greensburg, Louisiana in May 29, of 1935 (as Mabel Dean), to Mr. Dean and Big Mabel Murphy. She had two siblings: a sister, Irene and a brother, Fredrick (Joseph). At some point in her early life she moved to Cleveland, Ohio then she relocated to Waycross, Georgia. Deacon Leroy Brown took Madea to the Booker T. Washington High School prom in 1953 and that night, after drinking too much, they became intimate and later had a daughter, Cora J.Simmons . They did not marry because Madea did not remember that Cora was Brown's daughter until her class reunion in 2003. Up until that time she was unaware of who the father was. Some of her extended family include Parker Osgood, her cousin; Vickie, a niece; and several more relatives. In 1953, she married and relocated to metropolitan Atlanta where she still resides. It is not known if she has moved to a newer home, but in "Madea Goes to Jail" the set-up of her home was new, and the houses seen in the background look to be examples of the current architectural style rather than the old-type of her former home.Mable(Madea)Simmons says that Cora was born at Sheridan hospital in "Madea's family reunion(the play).

Family in the plays

Tamela Mann plays Myrtle in Diary of a Mad Black Woman (play), and Cora in Meet the Browns, and I Can Do Bad All By Myself.

In I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Madea's Family Reunion, Madea's Class Reunion, Meet the Browns, and Madea Goes to Jail, Cora is one of Madea's daughters. Cora has two daughters, Tina and Lisa. Madea's unnamed daughter has two daughters, Vyanne and Maylee.Madea's son"William" has a daughter named Helen. She has a niece named Victoria and a nephew named Sonny.

In "Madea Goes To Jail", Madea takes temporary custody of Toni, the daughter of one of Madea's cell mates. She rejects the offer at first until she meets the father, who wishes to take advantage of his own daughter right in front of Madea.

Madea claims to have been pivotal in Rosa Parks' role in African American history. Madea's assertion is that Parks stole Madea's man, and Madea came to the bus stop with a gun to retaliate. Rosa stayed on the bus to avoid confronting Madea. Madea was also supposed to march in Martin Luther King's march in Selma, Alabama, but was told by King himself they didn't need her because she was too violent. She replied saying, "I was only gonna carry thirteen guns on me, hell."

Cora J. Simmons meets her father's family in "Meet the Browns".

Family in the movies

The Family Tree is different in the movies than in the plays. Her daughter, Cora, appears in Diary of a Mad Black Woman and in Meet the Browns. Cora is still Madea's daughter, as heard in Tyler Perry's House of Payne. She has a granddaughter named Helen, who is the daughter of her son. She has a niece named Victoria who has two daughters, Lisa and Vanessa. She has a brother named Joe who has a son named Brian (also played by Tyler Perry), who is married to Debra and has two children, Tiffany and BJ (Brian Jr.). Joe's family is the newest addition to the Simmons Family Tree.

In the film version of "Madea's Family Reunion", Madea took in Nikki. She had a choice to either do so or go to jail because she took off her house arrest bracelet that she wore in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman".

Madea is 73. She has had about seventeen husbands, one by the name of Johnny who was her second husband. When each dies, she collects his life insurance checks. She either shoots or poisons by sweet-potato pie those for whose death she is unwilling to wait. After each husband dies, they are buried quickly. Madea claims, "I'm tryna get to the insurance company by five, and the casino by nine!"

In spite of her less-than-glowing reputation with her marriages and the law, Madea helps women realize how badly they have been treated by their men, instructs them on what to do about the mistakes they have made in their life choices, and leads them towards the path of forgiveness and moving on. She also helps others shed some light on their own life instead of looking at someone else's. On numerous occasions she has accepted family members into her home out of her own accord, including granddaughter Helen ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman"), her granddaughter Vianne ("I Can Do Bad All by Myself"), Vanessa and her two kids ('Madea's Family Reunion") ,and ex-convict Bobby Mitchell ("Myself").

Madea's home is a spacious, early-1900s style house on a street corner at 1197 Avon Avenue in Southwest Atlanta, Georgia. [The house number can be seen in both "Madea's Family Reunion", and "Diary of a Mad Black Woman".] There are at least five bedrooms, and Joe sleeps in a room downstairs (seen in "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" when Madea answers the front door at night). The kitchen is on the left when one walks in the house, and beyond that is the living room, where Joe can usually be found. To Madea's annoyance, Mr. Leroy Brown is her next-door neighbor, and has a barking dog that Madea gets tired of and at one point feeds a whole bottle of sleeping pills. Outside, the yard is fenced and Madea's green 1970 Cadillac is parked on the street. Joe cannot drive.

In Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea appears to be younger than her daughter-in-law, Myrtle. Her granddaughter Helen is married for nineteen years, ranging her age from her mid to late thirties. Myrtle reveals that she had her at thirty-nine, making her well in her seventies. The only possible explanation for this is that Madea is either much older in the film version than in the play, or her son is many years younger than his wife.In"I can do bad all by myself" Vianne is talking to Helen's mother"Myrtle" on the phone at the begining of the play when she calls to ask Madea for some money.Also we know Helen has a sister named Gina who was maybe married to Dr.Harris and had children by him but they got a divorced as heard in (what's done in the dark)

Madea on television

Madea has made occasional appearances on the TBS television series "Tyler Perry's House of Payne". Again, she resides in Atlanta, and serves as the adopted mother to Nikki. She first encounters the Payne family when her adopted daughter has an altercation at school with Curtis Payne's great-nephew Malik. Curtis takes a particular disliking to Madea, who -- as expected -- is not intimidated by Curtis at all.

About a year later, 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.

Family, Relatives & Friends

Parents

*Frederick J. Baker (father, deceased)
*Mabel Murphy (mother, deceased)

iblings

*Irene Baker-Andrews (sister, deceased)
*Joe F. Baker (brother)

Aunts and Uncles

*Henry Lee Baker (uncle, deceased)
*Ruby Murphy (aunt)

Children

*Cora J. Simmons (daughter w/ Brown)
*William Simmons (son w/ Johnny)
*Mrs. Simmons-Griffin (daughter w/ Johnny, deceased)
*Nichole "Nikki" Grady-Simmons (adopted daughter)
*Myrtle Jean-Simmons (daughter-in-law; via William)
*Jessica Coleman( daughter w/ Denzel Washington)
*Phillip Richards(son-in-law)

Grandchildren

*Vianne Griffin (granddaughter; via Mrs. Griffin)
*Maylee Griffin (granddaughter; via Mrs. Griffin)
*Lisa Simmons (granddaughter; via Cora)
*Tina Simmons; (granddaughter; via Cora)
*Helen Simmons-McCarter (granddaughter; via William)
*Jackie Simmons (granddaughter; via William)
*Gina Simmons-Harris (granddaughter; via William)
*Patricia Agnew (granddaughter; via William)
*William Simmons jr.(grandson;via william)
*Kiesha Griffin (great-granddaughter; via Maylee)
*Shemor (great-granddaughter; via Tina)

Nieces & Nephews

*Sonny Andrews (nephew; via Irene)
*Jennifer Simmons (niece; via Irene)
*Angela Simmons-Lovett (niece; via Irene)
*Victoria Baker-Breaux (niece; via Irene)
*Shiela Simmons (niece; via Irene)
*Brian Baker (nephew; via Joe)
*Terry Baker (nephew; via Joe)

In books

Perry has also written a book in her persona entitled "Don't Make A Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries On Love And Life", which was published April 11, 2006.

Influence

*In The Boondocks, the fictional movie "Madea's Bat Mitzvah" is mentioned.

References

External links

* [http://www.tylerperry.com Official Website]
* [http://www.houseoftyler.cjb.net House of Tyler - Tyler Perry Unofficial Fansite]

See also

* Cross-dressing in film and television

http://www.meetthebrownsfilm.com/