Tamela Jean Mann (née Johnson) is an American gospel singer, songwriter, and actress. She is married to actor David Mann. She began acting in 1999 when she was discovered by Tyler Perry. She debuted in the stage play I Can Do Bad All By Myself in 2000. The following year, she appeared in the comedy film Kingdom Come. She went on to act in Perrys plays Meet the Browns, Madea's Family Reunion, Madea's Class Reunion, Diary of a Mad Black Woman and What's Done in the Dark. In 2005, she waa in the romantic comedy drama film Diary of a Mad Black Woman which was inspired by the play of the same name. She reprised her role in the 2008 film Meet The Browns. The following year, she began starring on the TBS sitcom Meet the Browns, which ran til 2011. She appeared in Madea Goes to Jail (2009) and Madea's Big Happy Family (2011). In 2012, she waa in the musical film Sparkle, a remake of the 1976 film of the same name, alongside Whitney Houston and singer Jordin Sparks (making her film debut). She co-starred in the 2014 drama film First Impression and starred and produced 2018 Christmas film Merry Wish-Mas with her husband. In 2021, she starred in the another holiday film, Soul Santa. From 2015 to 2017, she starred, along with her husband, in the Bounce TV comedy series, Mann & Wife. In 2020, she returned to her role as Cora Simmons in the BET sitcom Tyler Perry's Assisted Living. In 2022, she appeared in A Madea Homecoming on Netflix. She then was cast in The Color Purple, a film adaptation for the screen from the 2005 stage musical of the same name. Mann began her career as a singer with the gospel group Kirk Franklin and the Family. She was a featured soloist on several tracks while with Franklin's group, including "Now Behold the Lamb", and "Lean on Me", the latter of which also included Mary J. Blige, Crystal Lewis, R. Kelly, and Bono. She began her solo career by releasing the albums Gotta Keep Movin (2005), and The Master Plan (2009). Her third studio album, Best Days reached No. 1 on the Billboard Gospel albums chart, and was certified Gold by the RIAA. The lead single "Take Me to the King" earned her a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance. Her fourth studio album One Way (2016), also reached No. 1 on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart; and spawned the single "God Provides", which won her the Grammy Award for Best Gospel Performance/Song in 2017. Along with her Grammy Award, she has earned many other accolades and honors, including multiple NAACP Image Awards, a Billboard Music Award, and a BET Award. In 2022, she was inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. She has received a total of nine No. 1 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart singles; while "Take Me to the King" spent 25 weeks on the top.
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Biography from TMDB.
- June 9, 1966 (60)
- Limestone County, Texas, USA
- Actor, also producer
- 12 on MovieCove · 23 credits in all
Known for
What are Tamela J. Mann's films like?
Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Bonds and Morality.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
Light 4 · Serious 1 · Dark 0
Grounded 2 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 1
Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 0
A split, not a type: Steady 3 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 2
Straight-faced 0 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 5
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 4 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 0 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 5 · Affecting 0 · Heavy 0
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 0
Roles they play
Usually the Ally: 2 of 5 analyzed roles.
- Heroas Cora Simmons in Meet the Browns (2009)
- Allyas Cora in Tyler Perry's Assisted Living (2020)
- Allyas Liz in Soul Santa (2021)
- Mentoras Cora in Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming (2022)
- Mentoras Cora in Madea's Destination Wedding (2025)
Moods and endings
- Happy6
- Bittersweet1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Tamela J. Mann's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 10 of their 12 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Tamela J. Mann's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
23 credits, 12 with a MovieCove page; 6 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all films
The Color Purple(2023)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
Truth Be Told (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all films
Soul Santa(2021)
Midcredits score: 45th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 3rd percentile of all shows
Tyler Perry's Madea's Farewell - The Play (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Merry Wishmas (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
Mann & Wife (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Sparkle(2012)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Madea's Big Happy Family(2011)
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films
Madea Goes to Jail(2009)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Meet the Browns(2009)
Midcredits score: 4th percentile of all shows
Meet the Browns(2008)
Midcredits score: 26th percentile of all films
Tyler Perry's Meet The Browns - The Play (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
Madea’s Christmas Special (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
Madea's Class Reunion - The Play (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself - The Play (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion - The Play (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2002)
Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman - The Play (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2001)
Kingdom Come(2001)
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all filmsTyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Affair (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
Star power in the 93rd percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 23 titles, 22 of them dated from 2001 to 2025; peak year 2001.
Biggest box office
Madea Goes to Jail (2009)
Highest rated
Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming (2022)
Most popular right now
Meet the Browns (2009)
Film career
Peak 2001 · back in prominent film roles after a quiet stretch. Top draw in 2 MovieCove titles. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 2001Screen debut· Kingdom Come
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30; the columns are the share of top-billed roles in each era, 5-year spans from the year on the label, merged until each holds at least 5 roles.
Awards
1 major award from 3 major nominations, 2013–2026.
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Gospel Album
- Grammy Award, won · Best Gospel Performance/Song
- Grammy Award, nominated · Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Tamela J. Mann's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 42nd percentile, the median of all 10; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 34th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 25th to 49th9
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
6 of their 12 titles are Divisive.
- Divisive6
- Cult Classic3
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the acting 49/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles; fans 70, detractors 33. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Tamela J. Mann's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Tamela J. Mann work with?
People who share at least 2 of Tamela J. Mann's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; David Mann shares the most, 7.
Directors
- Tyler PerryShared titles: Madea's Destination Wedding (2025), Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming (2022), Tyler Perry's Assisted Living (2020), Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Meet the Browns (2008)See all 5 shared titles with Tyler Perry
Actors
- David MannShared titles: Madea's Destination Wedding (2025), Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming (2022), Soul Santa (2021), Tyler Perry's Assisted Living (2020), Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Meet the Browns (2009), Meet the Browns (2008)See all 7 shared titles with David Mann
- Cassi DavisShared titles: Madea's Destination Wedding (2025), Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Cassi Davis
- Sofía VergaraShared titles: Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Meet the Browns (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Sofía Vergara
Composers and editors
- Larry SextonShared titles: Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming (2022), Tyler Perry's Assisted Living (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Larry Sexton
- Aaron ZigmanShared titles: Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Meet the Browns (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Aaron Zigman
- Maysie HoyShared titles: Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Meet the Browns (2008)See all 2 shared titles with Maysie Hoy
Producers
- Will AreuShared titles: Madea's Destination Wedding (2025), Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming (2022), Tyler Perry's Assisted Living (2020)See all 3 shared titles with Will Areu
- Reuben CannonShared titles: Soul Santa (2021), Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Meet the Browns (2008)See all 3 shared titles with Reuben Cannon
- Angi BonesShared titles: Madea's Destination Wedding (2025), Tyler Perry's Assisted Living (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Angi Bones
- Andy NormanShared titles: Tyler Perry's A Madea Homecoming (2022), Tyler Perry's Assisted Living (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Andy Norman
Mixed roles
- Terri J. VaughnShared titles: Soul Santa (2021), Meet the Browns (2009)See all 2 shared titles with Terri J. Vaughn
