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'Mr. T' (born 'Laurence Tureaud' on May 21 1952) is an iconic actor known for his roles as Sgt. "B. A." Baracus in the 1980s television series ''The A-Team'', as boxer James "Clubber" Lang in the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', and for his numerous appearances in the WWF and pro-wrestling. He is also well-known for his distinctive mohawk hairstyle and for wearing an excessive amount of gold jewelry and his hard man image. He currently stars in the reality show ''I Pity the Fool'', shown on TV Land; the title of which comes from his ''Rocky III'' catchphrase.

Contents

Biography

Acting roles and work

Album

References in pop culture

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Mr. T was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest boy of thirteen children. He, his four sisters and his seven brothers, grew up in the city's housing projects, the Robert Taylor Homes (another famous resident of the Taylor project was baseball superstar Kirby Puckett). He attended Paul Lawrence Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, playing football, wrestling, and studying martial arts. He won a scholarship to Prairie View A&M University, but was thrown out after a year. Mr. T also attended a couple of small Chicago colleges on athletic scholarships. After leaving school, Mr. T was a military policeman in the U.S. Army before trying out for the Green Bay Packers.
For about ten years, Mr. T was a bodyguard to the stars, protecting such well-known personalities as Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson, Bruce Lee, Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier, and Diana Ross. He charged around $3,000 a day, and his business card famously read, "Next to God, there is no greater protector than I." He always boasts that he never lost a client, saying, "I got hurt worse growing up in the ghetto than working as a bodyguard." A bald-headed, pre-mohawk Mr. T can be seen accompanying Joe Frazier to the ring in Frazier's rematch against George Foreman.
It was while reading ''National Geographic'' that Mr. T first saw the unusual hairstyle for which he is now famous, on an African Mandinka warrior. He decided that adopting the style was a powerful statement about his African origins.
At one point, his gold chains, rings, and bracelets were worth about $300,000. It took him about an hour to put it on, and most nights he cleaned it in an ultrasonic cleaner although some nights he slept in it "to see how my ancestors, who were slaves, felt."^[1]
In 1986 Mr. T removed many trees from his mansion in Lake Forest, Illinois, explaining that he had allergies. This created a large controversy and led several North Shore communities to enact ordinances making the removal of old growth trees illegal. He also added a large white controversial fence around his property line, which the City of Lake Forest forced him to take down.
Mr. T owns a 20-acre ranch in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and spends most summers there.
In 2005, Mr. T announced he would never wear his chains again saying, "No, T, you can never wear your gold again. It's an insult to God." He came to this decision after seeing the effects of Hurricane Katrina. (However, he is seen wearing some chains for several commercial appearances, such as the 2007 U.K. Snickers advertisement). He also donated a great deal of clothing and money to Katrina victims. In October, 2006 ^[2] his new reality television show for TV Land, called ''I Pity the Fool'' ^[3] began, in which he assists those in need.

Acting roles and work

In 1982 Mr. T was spotted by Sylvester Stallone while taking part in "The World's Toughest Bouncer" contest with Lee Dittrich. His role in ''Rocky III'' was originally intended as just a few lines, but Stallone built up the part around the man. His catch phrase, "I pity the fool!" comes from the film, where he played a boxer facing Rocky Balboa in a match. When asked if he hated Rocky, he replied, "I don't hate Balboa, but I pity the fool."
After losing out on the role of the title character's mentor in ''The Beastmaster'', Mr. T appeared in another boxing film, ''Penitentiary 2'', and in a cable television special, ''Bizarre'', before accepting the role of B.A. in ''The A-Team.''
In an episode of ''Silver Spoons'', he played his old role as body guard to Ricky Stratton and explained his name as "First name:'' 'Mr', middle name:'' 'period','' last name'' 'T'.''" In one scene, the classroom erupts with paper balls as Mr. T throws his body in front of the objects, protecting his client.
In The A-Team, he played Sergeant Bosco B.A. Baracus (B.A. an abbreviation of "Bad Attitude"), an ex-army commando on the run with three other members from the U.S. government "for a crime they didn't commit." When asked at a press conference whether he was as stupid as B.A. Baracus, he observed quietly, "It takes a smart guy to play dumb."
A Ruby-Spears produced cartoon called ''Mr. T'' premiered in 1983 on NBC. The ''Mister T'' cartoon starred Mr. T as himself, the owner of a gym where a group of gymnasts trained. He would help them with their training, but they would also help him solve mysteries and fight crime. Thirty episodes were produced.
In 1984, he made a motivational video called ''Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!''. He gives helpful advice to children throughout the video; for example, he teaches them how to understand and appreciate their origins, how to dress fashionably without buying designer labels, how to make tripping up look like breakdancing, how to control their anger, and how to deal with peer pressure. The video is roughly one hour long, but contains 30 minutes of singing, either by the group of children accompanying him, or by Mr. T himself. He sings "Treat Your Mother Right (Treat Her Right)", in which he enumerates the reasons why it is important to treat your mother right, and also raps a song about growing up in the ghetto and praising God. The raps in this video were written by Ice T. That same year he released a related rap album titled ''Mr. T's Commandments''.
He entered the world of professional wrestling in 1985. He was Hulk Hogan's tag-team partner at the first WrestleMania. Hulk Hogan wrote in his autobiography that Mr. T saved the main event of WrestleMania I between them and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff because when he arrived, security would not let his entourage into the building. Mr. T was ready to skip the show until Hogan personally talked him out of leaving. Piper has said that he and other fellow wrestlers disliked Mr. T because he was an actor coming into wrestling and had never paid his dues as a professional wrestler. Remaining with the World Wrestling Federation, he became a special "WWF boxer," in light of his character in ''Rocky III'' and took on "Cowboy" Bob Orton on an episode of ''Saturday Night's Main Event'' on NBC. This boxing stint ultimately culminated in another boxing match against Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 2. He returned to the World Wrestling Federation as a special guest referee in 1987, before disappearing from the wrestling world. He reappeared as a special referee for a Hogan-Ric Flair match, seven years later in World Championship Wrestling, in October 1994 at Halloween Havoc.
From 1988 Mr. T starred in the television series ''T. and T.''.
Mr. T was once reported to be earning around $80,000 a week for his role in ''The A-Team'' and getting $15,000 for personal appearances, but by the end of the 1990s, he was appearing only in the occasional commercial, largely because of health problems. (In 1995, he was diagnosed with, coincidentally, T-cell lymphoma.) He frequently appears on the TBN Christian television series. He has appeared in commercials for MCI's 1-800-COLLECT collect-call service and on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. He has also appeared on some Comcast commercials, and in the United Kingdom during 2007 advertising the chocolate bar Snickers with the slogan Get Some Nuts!
In 2001, he had a cameo role as the Wise Janitor in "Not Another Teen Movie".

Album

Mr. T in 1984 released an album entitled ''Mr. T's Commandments'' much in the same tone as his 1984 educational video which instructs children to stay in school and to stay away from drugs. This was later followed up by a second album, the same year titled ''Mr. T's Be Somebody (Or Be Somebody's Fool)'', which featured music from the video of the same name.


In 2002 he appeared in the video for "Pass The Courvoisier" by Busta Rhymes featuring P. Diddy and Pharell Williams. Mr. T also has a song dedicated to him written and performed by MixMasterMandy. John Cena's music video Bad Man also featured a imitation of Mr. T / B.A. throughout.

References in pop culture

★ Frank Sinatra ad libbed the line "I'd even punch out Mr. T for you" in his 1984 recording of the song "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" on his Quincy Jones produced album "L.A. Is My Lady."

★ Mr. T is often referenced in ''The Simpsons'' and has even been a guest voice in the episode ''Today I Am a Klown''. He also appears in this series in an episode which featured some "stars from the past". He first appeared as a member of the Stonecutters world council in Homer the Great. He was also mentioned in Deep Space Homer.

★ On the sitcom ''Friends'' in the episode "The One With the Prom Video", Chandler does an impression of Mr. T after Joey gives him a much hated gold bracelet. He calls it "a reject from the Mr. T collection" and says, "I pity the fool who puts on my jewelry, I do, I do. I pity the fool that..."

★ On the movie "Ali G Inda House" Ali G and his "home boy" Ricky have an argument who is most like B. A. Baracus.

★ He was the subject of recurring "The All New Adventures Of Mr. T" sketch on ''Saturday Night Live'' by Robert Smigel, in which he is joined by Jeff, Spike and Kim, three of the teenagers from his eponymous animated series, and have adventures while Mr. T tries to find work.

★ Comedian / presenter Iain Lee had a running gag of a supposed campaign to have Mr. T on London-based radio station LBC, and also used a number of Mr. T voice clips. Eventually, Lee read out a letter which had supposedly been sent by Mr. T's Agent which stated "Mr. T would not like to take part in a local radio station." Mr. T later went on to record a voice trail for Lee's drivetime show (although it turned out to be little used, as the show changed timeslot shortly after). [1]

★ Mr. T has also been referred to in the animated comedy, ''Family Guy'', numerous times. In "Fore Father" from Season 2, Mr. T birds appear to a hallucinating Stewie. News anchor Tom Tucker quotes Mr. T in "The Kiss Seen Around the World" saying, "Remember kids, Mr. T says, 'I pity the fool who does drugs.'" The episode "Brian Goes Back To College" from Season 4 is dedicated to ''The A-Team'', as Peter and his neighbors are inspired to form their own version of an "A-Team" and set to "help out the community", after winning a fancy dress competition dressed as them. Peter Griffin's African-American neighbor, Cleveland Brown, sports B.A. Baracus' hairdo, attire, and jewelery.

★ In ''South Park's third episode of the tenth season, "Cartoon Wars Part I", during the ''Family Guy'' parody, Mr. T. sells tea, a reference to his various appearances in the show.

★ In the first episode of the British sitcom ''The IT Crowd'', a picture of Mr. T and the cast of ''The A-Team'' can be seen on Denholm's desk, who refers to Mr T. as "jewelery man".

★ British phone directory service 118 118 ran an ''A-Team''-like TV ad, where the 118 118 Men bust through a barber shop and a child is seen with a Mr. T style hair cut and beard he then says "Crazy Fools!" in a Mr. T voice.

★ Mr. T had licensed his image to a food company for a breakfast cereal. During the commercials for his eponymous cereal, Mr. T would use his catchphrase of "I pity the fool who don't eat my cereal!" Mr. T's cereal was famously featured in a scene of the movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, in which Pee Wee eats two mouthfuls of Mr. T cereal on his Pancake, while doing an impersonation of Mr. T himself.

★ A radio caller named Emma Lynch won £25,000 after UK's Virgin Radio challenged listeners to submit their all time favorite jokes. It was in reference to Mr T and British Airways:

★ There was a campaign by the UK radio station Virgin Radio to have Mr. T make a phone call into the breakfast show, since their anniversary celebrations coincide with those of the TV-show ''The A-Team''. Cited link

★ A Mr. T look-a-like NPC appears in various places in the RPG EarthBound for SNES. ^[4].

★ In an episode of Megas XLR there is a giant robot called 'T-Bot' who looks, acts, and talks like Mr. T

★ In several episodes of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, one of the three alien enemies of boy hero Jimmy Neutron is called "T", who has a Mohawk, a gold necklace with a pendant shaped like a letter T, and has sayings like "fool", "I pity..." and "jibba-jabba".

★ Mr. T appears frequently on RetroThinking as a guest reviewer.

★ In the DOS game, Simon the Sorcerer 2, Of the Simon the Sorcerer series, A Mr.T look-alike makes an appearance as a prisoner, Captured alongside you in a pirate ship. Simon even refers to him as "That guy from the A-Team", And the Look-Alike occasionally states that he 'Pities the fool'.

★ Barret Wallace, a character from the video game Final Fantasy VII, is based on Mr.T.

★ Mr.T appears in a 2003 Dutch advertisement campaign for Tikkels ("Hard on the outside, soft on the inside") , where he is dubbed with a North-Brabant accent saying: "Jongens, als ik van jullie een zakje tikkels krijg, bouw ik voor jullie een keigave schommel!" ''("Dudes, if you give me a bag of Tikkels, I'll build a really cool swing for you!")''

★ A Mr.T Character appears in one of the Robot Chicken episodes, where he Teams up with the Foo Fighters to "Fight Foo's"
Crunch, a character from the Crash Bandicoot games is based on Mr.T.

Filmography

★ ''Penitentiary II'' (1982) Himself

★ ''Rocky III'' (1982) James "Clubber" Lang

★ ''Twilight Theatre'' (1982) TV Series

★ ''The A-Team'' (1983-1987) TV Series, Sergeant Bosco "B.A." Baracus

★ ''D.C. Cab'' (1983) Samson

★ ''Mister T'' (1983) TV Series, Himself

★ ''Diff'rent Strokes'' TV Series, Himself (in 1983)

★ ''Alvin and the Chipmunks'' Children's animated series, episode "The C - Team" as himself (in 1983).

★ ''The Toughest Man in the World'' (1984) (TV) Bruise Brubaker

★ ''Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!'' (1984) (Video) Mr. T

★ ''WWF Superstars of Wrestling'' (1984) TV Series, Himself (1985-1986, 1988)

★ ''WrestleMania'' (1985) (Video) Himself

★ ''WrestleMania 2'' (1986) (Video) Himself

★ ''T. and T.'' (1988) TV Series T. S. Turner

★ ''Freaked'' (1993) The Bearded Lady (1993)

★ ''The Terrible Thunderlizards'' (1993) Mr. T-Rex

★ ''Blossom'' (1994) TV Series, Himself

★ '' (1994)

★ ''Kids Against Crime'' (1995) Himself

★ ''Spy Hard'' (1996) Helicopter Pilot

★ ''Saturday Night Live: The Best of Eddie Murphy'' (1998) (Video) Mister Robinson's Neighbour

★ ''Inspector Gadget'' (1999) Himself

★ ''Judgment'' (2001) J. T. Quincy

★ ''Not Another Teen Movie'' (2001) The Wise Janitor

★ ''The Simpsons'' (2004) Himself

★ ''Return of the Lads'' (2005) Lad No 3 with Mark Egan and Cian Duffy

★ ''Snickers] ADVERT get some nuts! (2007)

References

1. http://www.tvacres.com/jewelry_mr_t.htm
2. http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7003412847
3. http://imdb.com/title/tt0494722/
4. Tikkels advertisement to be seen on YouTube (Dutch)

External links

★

★ Mr. T Memorabilia at Mr. T and Me

★ TV Land's official I Pity The Fool page

★ Backstage interview Mr. T

★ David Letterman interviews Mr. T

★ Bring Back The A-Team: Mr. T interview by Justin Lee Collins

★ Legendary TV's Mr. T profile

★ The A-Team Shrine's Mr. T and B.A. Baracus profile

★ Glenn Beck interviews Mr. T

★ Busta Rhymes's Pass The Courvoisier music video featuring Mr. T

★ John Cena's Bad Man music video

★ Mr. T discusses his Christian faith