Mr. T facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mr. T
Mr. T at the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014
Born	Laurence Tureaud (1952-05-21) May 21, 1952 (age 73) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation	Actor wrestler television personality
Years active	1980–present
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Mr. T
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	236 lb (107 kg)
Debut	March 24, 1985
Retired	December 27, 1994
Signature

Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud on May 21, 1952) is a famous American actor and former professional wrestler. He is best known for playing B. A. Baracus in the 1980s TV show The A-Team. He also played the boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 movie Rocky III.

Mr. T is famous for his unique hairstyle, which was inspired by Mandinka warriors from West Africa. He also used to wear a lot of gold jewelry and had a tough-guy image. His famous saying is "I pity the fool!", which he first said as Clubber Lang in Rocky III. This phrase became his trademark and was even used for his 2006 reality show, I Pity the Fool.

Mr. T's Early Life

Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud in Chicago, Illinois. He was the youngest of twelve children. Laurence grew up with his four sisters and seven brothers in a small three-room apartment. His father, Nathaniel Tureaud, was a minister. When Laurence was five, his father left, and he shortened his name to Lawrence Tero. In 1970, he officially changed his last name to T. He chose "Mr. T" because he felt that white people did not show enough respect to his family when he was a child.

Mr. T (Laurence Tureaud) in his high school yearbook (1970)

Laurence went to Dunbar Vocational High School. There, he played football, wrestled, and studied martial arts. He became the citywide wrestling champion for two years in a row. He earned a football scholarship to Prairie View A&M University and studied mathematics. However, he left after his first year.

After leaving college, Laurence worked as a gym instructor for a government program in Chicago. He later said that this job helped him discover his talent for helping children. In 1975, he joined the United States Army and served in the Military Police Corps. After leaving the Army, he tried out for the Green Bay Packers football team but could not join because of a knee injury.

In his late twenties, Mr. T won two "tough-man" competitions. In one competition called "America's Toughest Bouncer," he had to throw a 150-pound (68 kg) stuntman and break through a 4-inch (10 cm) wooden door. He came in third place in that part. In the final, he boxed a 280-pound (130 kg) bouncer and won the competition. In another competition, he won a boxing match in less than a minute. Before that fight, he told the interviewer, "I just feel sorry for the guy who I have to box. I just feel real sorry for him." This quote inspired Sylvester Stallone to write the famous line "I don't hate him but... I pity the fool" for Rocky III.

Mr. T's Acting Career

Mr. T found the idea for his famous hairstyle while reading National Geographic. He saw a Mandinka warrior with a similar style and decided to adopt it. He felt it was a strong way to show his African heritage. It was also a more lasting look than his gold chains and rings.

In 1980, Sylvester Stallone noticed Mr. T during a "America's Toughest Bouncer" competition. This competition was part of NBC's Games People Play. Mr. T was cast as Clubber Lang, the main bad guy in Rocky III. His famous line "I pity the fool!" comes from this movie. After Rocky III, he appeared in another boxing film called Penitentiary 2. He also appeared on a Canadian comedy show before getting his big TV role in The A-Team. He also appeared in an episode of Silver Spoons, playing a bodyguard.

A wax figure of Mr. T as B. A. Baracus from The A-Team at Madame Tussauds, London

In The A-Team, Mr. T played Sergeant Bosco "B. A." Baracus. B. A. was a former Army commando who was on the run with three other friends. They were wanted by the government "for a crime they didn't commit." B. A. was the tough guy of the team and a mechanical genius. However, he was very afraid of flying. The show was a huge success, and B. A. Baracus became a very popular character.

His role in The A-Team also led him to appear on the TV show Diff'rent Strokes in 1983. In this episode, a part of The A-Team was supposedly filmed in the family's apartment.

Mr. T playing Santa Claus at the White House with First Lady Nancy Reagan in 1983

Also in 1983, a cartoon called Mister T started on NBC. In this cartoon, Mr. T played himself as the owner of a gym where gymnasts trained. He helped them with their training, and they also helped him solve mysteries and fight crime, similar to Scooby-Doo. Mr. T appeared at the beginning and end of each episode to introduce the topic and share a lesson for children.

The year 1983 also saw the release of the movie DC Cab. Mr. T was the main star of this film, which featured many well-known people from comedy and music. The movie was about a group of taxi drivers trying to make their company successful. While the movie did okay at the box office, critics had mixed feelings about it.

Mr. T at the Zandvoort racing track in 1984

In 1984, Mr. T made a motivational video called Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!. In this video, he gave helpful advice to children. For example, he taught them to appreciate their background, how to dress well without expensive clothes, how to control their anger, and how to deal with peer pressure. The video included songs sung by Mr. T and a group of children. He also released a rap mini-album called Mr. T's Commandments that same year. It had seven songs, including the theme for his TV movie. The album, like his video, encouraged children to stay in school.

During these busy years, he appeared on many TV shows. He co-hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live with Hulk Hogan in 1985. He had also appeared on the show in 1982. In 1985, he introduced Rich Little at a special event for President Ronald Reagan's second inauguration.

After The A-Team ended in 1988, Mr. T starred in the TV series T. and T. By the late 1990s, he appeared mostly in commercials due to health issues.

Mr. T often appears on the TBN Christian television channel. In 2002, he appeared as a bartender in a music video for "Pass the Courvoisier, Part II".

In the 2009 animated movie Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Mr. T provided the voice for Officer Earl Devereaux, a strong police officer who loves his son. Mr. T was asked to make a small appearance in The A-Team movie, but he turned it down. He felt it was disrespectful to ask him to appear when another actor was copying his unique look.

From 2011 to 2013, Mr. T hosted a show on BBC Three called World's Craziest Fools. The show featured funny clips of things like failed bank robberies. In 2015, it was announced that Mr. T would star in a do it yourself home improvement TV show called "I Pity the Tool." Only one episode aired.

In 2017, Mr. T was a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. He was paired with professional dancer Kym Herjavec. They were the third couple to be eliminated. Mr. T promised to donate the money he received from the show to the Saint Jude Children's Research Hospital and the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

Commercials

Mr. T has been in many commercials for brands like Snickers, Atari, World of Warcraft, and Comcast. Forbes magazine has called him "one of the most enduring pitchmen in the business." Mr. T describes himself as a "pitchman" rather than an actor.

In 2007, Mr. T appeared in a TV commercial for the online game World of Warcraft. He said, "I'm Mr. T and I'm a Night Elf Mohawk." A later commercial in 2009 promoted a special item in the game that turns other players into Mr. T's character.

In 2009, he appeared in commercials in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand for the chocolate bar Snickers. The slogan was "Get Some Nuts!" One commercial showed Mr. T on a jeep, calling a speed walker "a disgrace to the man race" and shooting Snickers bars at him. This commercial was later removed after a group complained that it promoted violence against gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Mr. T said he would never support such ideas and that he did not think the commercial was offensive.

In 2010, Mr. T became the spokesperson for Gold Promise, a company that buys gold. In 2015, he starred in commercials for Fuze Iced Tea, saying, "The only thing bolder than Fuze Iced Tea is ME!"

Professional Wrestling Career

Mr. T lifts Roddy Piper onto his shoulders as Hulk Hogan cheers at the first-ever Wrestlemania in 1985

Mr. T started in professional wrestling in 1985. He teamed up with Hulk Hogan at the World Wrestling Federation's (WWF) first WrestleMania I event, which they won. Hulk Hogan later wrote that Mr. T helped save the main event of WrestleMania I. Some other wrestlers, like Roddy Piper, did not like Mr. T because he was an actor and had not worked his way up in wrestling.

Mr. T continued with the WWF as a special "WWF boxer." He had a boxing match against Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 2. Before the match, Piper attacked Mr. T's friend, the dwarf wrestler the Haiti Kid, and shaved his head into a mohican style. Mr. T won the boxing match by disqualification after Piper attacked the referee. Mr. T returned to the WWF in 1987 as a special guest referee.

In 1989, Mr. T appeared in World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). Five years later, he appeared in WCW. He was in Hulk Hogan's corner for a match in 1994. He then served as a special referee for another Hogan match. Later that year, he wrestled again, defeating Kevin Sullivan.

On April 5, 2014, Mr. T was honored by being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame. His acceptance speech was mostly a tribute to his mother.

Personal Life

Mr. T during an interview in London in 2009

Mr. T is a born-again Christian. He has three children with his wife: two daughters and a son.

In 1987, he upset people in Lake Forest, Illinois, by cutting down over a hundred oak trees on his property. The local newspaper called it "the Lake Forest Chain Saw Massacre."

In 1995, he was diagnosed with a type of cancer called cutaneous T-cell lymphoma. When his cancer went into remission, he joked, "Can you imagine that? Cancer with my name on it – personalized cancer!" He wrote a book about his experience called Cancer Saved My Life (Cancer Ain't For No Wimps). He referred to this when he performed a waltz to the song "Amazing Grace" on Dancing with the Stars.

After helping with the clean-up after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mr. T stopped wearing almost all his gold jewelry. He said, "As a Christian, when I saw other people lose their lives and lose their land and property... I felt that it would be a sin before God for me to continue wearing my gold. I felt it would be insensitive and disrespectful to the people who lost everything, so I stopped wearing my gold."

Mr. T often talks about himself in the third person (saying "Mr. T" instead of "I"). He also frequently speaks in rhymes. He says Muhammad Ali was his "childhood hero" and his main inspiration for his style.

Filmography

Movies

Television Shows

Other Appearances

Music Albums

Albums

• Mr. T's Commandments (1984), Columbia
• Be Somebody (Or Be Somebody's Fool) (1984), MCA

Singles

• "Mr. T's Commandment" (1984)
• "Don't Talk to Strangers" (1984)
• "Treat Your Mother Right" (1984)

See Also

In Spanish: Mr. T para niños

• Mr. T Cereal