Perry, Tyler

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    Steve Mensch, President of Tyler Perry Studios, Dies at 62

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    Mr. Mensch, a longtime supporter of the film industry in Georgia, died in a plane crash on Friday in Florida, according to officials.Steve Mensch, a film executive in Georgia who pushed for state policies to support the industry and who was the president of Tyler Perry Studios, died in a plane crash in Florida on Friday. He was 62.Mr. Mensch was the sole occupant of a small-engine fixed-wing aircraft that crashed on Highway 19 in Homosassa, Fla., just after 8 p.m. on Friday, according to the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.Mr. Mensch worked at Tyler Perry Studios for more than eight years, managing the 330-acre studio in Atlanta that was once home to Fort McPherson, a U.S. military base that closed in 2011, according to the company.Mr. Perry, the actor and entertainment mogul whose movies and television shows often depict the lives of Black Americans, bought the decommissioned base for $30 million in 2015.The lot has been a host to many of Mr. Perry’s projects, like “Boo! A Medea Halloween,” featuring Mr. Perry in his comedic role. Since his breakout role as Madea, Mr. Perry has appeared in nearly 50 shows and movies, including “Don’t Look Up” and “Gone Girl” and has over 70 producer credits, according to IMDb.Other shows and films have been shot at his studio, including “Pitch Perfect 3,” “The Walking Dead” and “Black Panther.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Tyler Perry Blasts Trump in Passionate Speech at Harris’s Atlanta Rally

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      In underlining his support for Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Atlanta on Thursday night, the filmmaker and entertainment mogul Tyler Perry assailed former President Donald J. Trump in direct and somber terms.Mr. Perry, who built an expansive career in Atlanta with an array of popular movies and television shows depicting Black life in America, told a crowd of 23,000 gathered in a high school football stadium that he knew he could never support Mr. Trump after learning of the full-page ad he had purchased calling for the Central Park Five to be put to death and of his promotion of lies concerning former President Barack Obama’s birthplace.“I’ve watched him, from the Central Park Five to Project 2025,” Mr. Perry said of Mr. Trump, before formally endorsing Mr. Harris, “and what I realized is that in this Donald Trump America, there is no dream that looks like me.”Mr. Perry’s speech stood in sharp contrast to the lighter talking points about voting and community organizing that have often defined Democratic events this election cycle. He has donated millions to local causes in Atlanta, such as paying for students’ college tuition and purchasing homes for low-income people, and he said that Ms. Harris’s promises to lower health care costs made her “a candidate that I can stand with.”Onstage on Thursday night, Mr. Perry discussed a litany of policies around immigration, health care and housing. He also marked a contrast between his life story and that of Mr. Trump, who he said had “a father who had millions of dollars” and could not understand the struggles of lower- and working-class Black voters.“If you are like me,” said Mr. Perry, who was once homeless in Atlanta, “I worked my ass off to buy my first house, to build my business and take care of my family.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Barack Obama Rallies for Kamala Harris, to the Chords of Bruce Springsteen

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      Former President Barack Obama sought to transfer the energy of his political movement to Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally on Thursday night outside Atlanta — their first joint appearance of the campaign — as he tried to help propel her over the finish line.“Together, we have a chance to choose a new generation of leadership in this country,” Mr. Obama told a crowd of 23,000 people at a high school football stadium in Clarkston, Ga. “And start building a better and stronger and fairer and more hopeful America.”When Ms. Harris took the stage, he lifted up her arm like a prizefighter in celebration. She quickly seemed to try to adopt his mantle, leading the audience, the largest she has drawn since becoming the Democratic nominee, in a chant of “Yes, we can,” Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign slogan.Georgia is a top battleground state, and polls show a very tight race.Erin Schaff/The New York Times“Millions of Americans were energized and inspired not only by Barack Obama’s message but by how he leads,” Ms. Harris said after he ceded the lectern to her. “Seeking to unite rather than separate us.”She proceeded to attack former President Donald J. Trump as an “unserious” yet dangerous authoritarian who would hurt Americans in their everyday lives even as he undermined the nation’s democracy.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More