Mr. T

Mr. T (born Lawrence Tureaud; May 21, 1952) is an American actor, bodyguard, television personality, and retired professional wrestler, known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III.

Mr. T is known for his distinctive hairstyle inspired by Mandinka warriors in West Africa, his gold jewelry, and his tough-guy image. In 2006, he starred in I Pity the Fool, a reality show shown on TV Land; the title of the show comes from the famous catchphrase used by his character, Clubber Lang.

Mr. T was born Lawrence Tureaud in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest son in a family with twelve children. Tureaud, with his four sisters and seven brothers, grew up in a three-room apartment in the Robert Taylor Homes  His father, Nathaniel Tureaud, was a minister. After his father left when he was five, he shortened his name to Lawrence Tero. In 1970, he legally changed his last name to T. He attended Dunbar Vocational High School. He was a football star, studied martial arts, and was three times city wrestling champion. He won a scholarship to play football at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, but he was thrown out after a year.

For Disney, he played himself in Inspector Gadget as part of the “Minions Anonymous” meeting, referencing the fact that he acted as a minion to other characters in other movies and shows. He also played an helicopter pilot in Spy Hard, and voiced himself in House of Mouse, and Mr. Gruff in Teamo Supremo