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Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud; May 21, 1952) is an American actor known for his roles as Sgt. "B. A." (Bosco Albert) 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 as a professional wrestler. Mr. T is also well-known for his famous mohawk hairstyle, for wearing large amounts of gold jewelry, and for his tough guy image. He starred in the "reality show" I Pity the Fool, shown on TV Land, the title of which comes from his Rocky III catchphrase.

Early life

Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest boy in a large family with twelve children. His father, Nathaniel Tureaud Sr., was a minister. Tureaud, with his four sisters and seven brothers, grew up in one of the city's housing projects, Robert Taylor Homes.

Tureaud attended Paul Lawrence Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, where he played football, wrestled, and studied martial arts. He won a scholarship to Prairie View A&M University, but was thrown out after a year. Tureaud also attended several small Chicago area colleges on athletic scholarships. After leaving school, Tureaud became a military policeman in the U.S. Army, before trying out for the NFL football team Green Bay Packers.

Tureaud worked as a bouncer after he returned from the army. It was at this time that he created the persona of "Mr. T." His wearing of gold neck chains and other jewelry was the result of customers losing the items, leaving them behind at the bar/night club after a fight, or being removed from the place. A customer would not have to re-enter or even have to see anyone else again if Mr. T wore their jewelry as he stood out front. When a customer came back, their item was readily visible and available with no further confrontations required. Often, the "former" customers did not return. Mr. T thus built up a large collection and earned a reputation for wearing many gold neck chains and bracelets.

Mr. T managed eventually to parlay his job as a bouncer into a career as a bodyguard to the stars that lasted almost ten years. He protected well-known personalities like Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson, Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier and Diana Ross, charging $3,000 per day.

As a bodyguard, Tureaud's business card read, "Next to God, there is no greater protector than I." Mr. T claimed that he never lost a client, saying, "I got hurt worse growing up in the ghetto than working as a bodyguard." A bald-headed Mr. T can be seen on film accompanying Joe Frazier to the ring in Frazier's rematch against George Foreman in 1976.

Acting roles and work

While reading National Geographic, Mr. T first noticed the unusual hairstyle, for which he is now famous, on a Mandinka warrior. He decided that adoption of the style would be a powerful statement about his African origin. It was a simpler, safer and more permanent visual signature than his gold chains, rings, and bracelets. The gold jewelry was worth about $300,000 at the time and took him about an hour to put on. Most nights, Mr. T spent even more time cleaning them using an ultrasonic cleaner. Occasionally, he would sleep with the heavy neck chains and bracelets on, "to see how my ancestors, who were slaves, felt."

In 1980, Mr. T was spotted by Sylvester Stallone while taking part in NBC's "America's Toughest Bouncer" competition—a segment of NBC's "Games People Play."  His role in Rocky III was originally intended as just a few lines. His catchphrase, "I pity the fool!", comes from the film, in which he played a boxer facing Rocky Balboa. When asked if he hated Rocky, he replied, "No, 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(in a Sketch where he fights and eats Super Dave Osborne), before accepting a television series role on The A-Team.

Mr. T appeared in an episode of Silver Spoons, reprising his old role as bodyguard to Ricky Stratton. In the episode, he explains his name as "First name: Mister; middle name: period; last name T." In one scene, when Ricky's class erupts into a paper ball throwing melee, Mr. T throws his body in front of the objects, fully protecting his client. In The A-Team, he played Sergeant Bosco "B.A." Baracus (B.A. is 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 break dancing, 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. Also in 1984, he starred in the film, The Toughest Man in the World.

In 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 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, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand during 2007, advertising the chocolate bar Snickers with the slogan "Get Some Nuts!". One of these commercials, featuring Mr. T crashing through a wall on the back of flat-bed truck before firing Snickers bars at a speed walker wearing tight-fitting yellow shorts, was pulled by Mars following a complaint by a US-based human rights campaign group, despite the fact that the advert had never been shown outside the UK.

Mr. T appeared in a popular commercial for the Oregon Lottery which parodied the current popularity of reality TV shows. The commercial was a satire, in which Mr. T starred in a fictitious reality show entitled Who can spend 30 days in a trailer with Mr. T?.

Mr. T did a video campaign for Hitachi's Data Systems that was created and posted on consumer video sites including YouTube and Yahoo! Video. According to Steven Zivanic, senior director and corporate communications of HDS, "this campaign has not only helped the firm in its own area, but it has given the data storage firm a broader audience." As of December 1st 2007, the first version, “Mr. T: The T in IT,” has been viewed 259,857 times on YouTube alone. In November 2007, Mr. T appeared in a television commercial for the online role playing game World of Warcraft with the phrase "I'm Mr. T and I'm a Night Elf Mohawk".

 Wrestling

Mr. T 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 WWF, Mr. T became a special "WWF boxer," in light of his character in Rocky III. He took on "Cowboy" Bob Orton on the March 1, 1986 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event, on NBC. This boxing stunt ultimately culminated in another boxing match against Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 2. Mr. T returned to the World Wrestling Federation as a special guest referee in 1987 as well as a special referee enforcer confronting such stars as the Honky Tonk Man, before suddenly disappearing from the wrestling world.

Seven years later, Mr. T reappeared as a special referee for a Hogan-Ric Flair match, in October 1994, at Halloween Havoc, and then went on to wrestle again, defeating Kevin Sullivan at that year's Starrcade.

Mr. T would return to wrestling, another seven years later, appearing in an episode of WWF Raw on November 19, 2001.

 Album

In 1984 Mr. T released an album entitled Mr. T's Commandments, much in the same tone as his 1984 educational video which instructed children to stay in school and to stay away from drugs. He later followed up with a second album the same year, titled Mr T's Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!, which featured music from the film of the same name.

In 2002, Mr. T appeared in the video for "Pass The Courvoisier" by Busta Rhymes featuring P. Diddy and Pharell Williams. John Cena's music video, "Bad Bad Man," also featured an imitation of Mr. T / B.A. by Freddie Foxx throughout.

 Personal life
Mr. T lives in Sherman Oaks, California, and is single. He owns a twenty-acre ranch in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and spends most summers there. He is a born again Christian.

In 2005, Mr. T stated that he would never wear his chains again. He arrived at this decision after seeing the effects of Hurricane Katrina. However, he has been seen wearing some chains for several commercial appearances, such as the 2007 U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand Snickers advertisement, and the 2007 World of Warcraft ad. Mr. T donated a great deal of clothing and money to Katrina victims. He is also an avid breeder of horses.

Trivia

He had a daughter in 1971 with Phyllis Clark.

He was twice named America's Toughest Bouncer.

Mr. T is the father of three children - Lesa, 29; Erika, 21; and T Junior, 14.

Previous occupations include gym teacher, military policeman, bouncer and bodyguard.

Once worked as a bouncer and a bodyguard to Steve McQueen, Muhammad Ali & Diana Ross.

Diagnosed with cancer in 1995 at age 43. Beating the disease in 2001 at age 49.

Briefly attended Prairie View A&M University near Houston, Texas c. 1971.

Occasionally appears as Conan O'Brien's special guest and partner in various comedy sketches on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" (1993). [2001]

Doesn't drink alcoholic beverages.

While a homeowner in Lake Forest, Illinois, he clearcut 100 acres of trees located on his property, igniting a feud with neighbors and town officials. Because of his actions, landowners of the town are prohibited from cutting down trees, even on their own property, without a permit.

Boxed 'ACE' Cowboy Bob Orton on WWF's Saturday Night Main Event in 1985 and was subsequentially whipped by Orton and Rowdy Roddy Piper with a belt.

Voted by a BBC-run poll the fourth most influential American in history, behind Homer Simpson, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King.

When he and Hulk Hogan appeared in 1985 on "Saturday Night Live" (1975), they were promoting the World Wrestling Federation's WrestleMania (1985) (V) pay-per-view show. They stayed mostly in character, but during a "Fernando's Hideaway" segment (Billy Crystal ), were unable to do so during most of that skit.

Hulk Hogan wrote in his autobiography that Mr. T almost ruined the main event of the first Wrestlemania, 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.

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper mentioned that he and other fellow wrestlers legitimately disliked Mr. T, because he was an actor coming into wrestling, and had not paid his dues as a professional wrestler.

Compiled a 4-0 Shoot-Wrestling Record.

Was once parodied on the animated GI Joe series of the 1980s with a character called "Mr. C", who was a spokesman for the evil COBRA cable network (the character then joined GI Joe after the COBRA cable3 network was destroyed).

If you ask him what his real name, he will tell you, "My first name is 'Mr,' my middle name is 'period,' last name is 'T'"

Stopped wearing his trademark gold chains as of last year (2005) because of the Katrina devastation.

Derived his signature hair-do when an attempt to shave his hair into a "T" failed. He adopted the mohawk look instead, taken from a National Geographic photo of a Mandika warrior in Mali.

Has frequented Harry Caray's restaurant in Chicago. One waiter described Mr. T as a generous tipper who would bring his own golden eating utensils. Often, he'd bring his mother with him. While Mr. T was friendly toward would-be autograph seekers, there was one cardinal rule: do NOT disturb him while he was eating.

Defeated Kevin Sullivan at Starrcade 1994.

Fans often dubbed his "Sgt. B.A. Baracus" from "The A-Team" (1983) as standing for "Bad Ass" or "Bad Attitude".

Personal Quotes

"I am the best bodyguard, because I'll take a bullet, I'll take a stab wound, I'll take a hit upside the head; I'm like a Kamikaze pilot; The President got shot because his men relaxed." - Mr. T, in Sept. 1983 issue of Playboy

"I believe in the Golden Rule - The Man with the Gold... Rules."

"I pity the fool..." [his trademark quote]

"When I was growing up, my family was so poor we couldn't afford to pay attention."

"As a kid, I got three meals a day. Oatmeal, miss-a-meal and no meal."

I think about my father being called 'boy', my uncle being called 'boy', my brother, coming back from Vietnam and being called 'boy'. So I questioned myself: 'What does a black man have to do before he's given the respect as a man?' So when I was 18 years old, when I was old enough to fight and die for my country, old enough to drink, old enough to vote, I said I was old enough to be called a man. I self-ordained myself Mr. T so the first word out of everybody's mouth is 'Mr.' That's a sign of respect that my father didn't get, that my brother didn't get, that my mother didn't get.

"You're arguing over $45? My lunch cost $45!"

"I pity the fool who don't read it [the Mr T Comic]! It's gonna be pure gold!"