For most regular guys, if they wore more jewelry than a pirate’s treasure chest, they would get their butts kicked. Mr. T is no regular guy. Coming from the hard streets of Chicago, Mr. T took the tough-guy persona to the extreme, with layers of gold, a Mohawk and a signature catchphrase (“I pity the fool!”), and became one of the most easily recognizable icons of the ’80s. For most of the decade, Mr. T was the baddest man on the planet – most notably as Sgt. Bosco B.A. “Bad Attitude” Baracus on the hit program, the A-Team. Unfortunately, the stardom wouldn’t last. Derailed by a bout with health problems and unemployment, he almost lost his career and his life. But with his indomitable spirit (and ’80s nostalgia making a comeback), look for “T” to rise again.
The Early Years
The baby that would become Mr. T was not born with gold chains and rings, or the patented Mohawk. Instead, he was born with the not-so-cool name Laurence Tureaud on May 21, 1952. The eleventh of 12 children, he came up in a tough neighborhood on the notorious south side of Chicago. To have a better chance of surviving the violent surroundings, his brothers pushed him to get bigger and stronger. Little did they know he would become a Mohawk-wearin’ monster bad mother, tempered only by a sweet side for his mother. She raised the family on welfare in a three-bedroom apartment, while he became a sensation on the football field, as well as in martial arts and wrestling, netting him an athletic scholarship to Prairie View A&M University in Texas.
Eventually, Tureaud went on to become a bouncer, and it was during this period that he morphed into Mr. T. He began wearing jewelry that bar patrons lost during fights, so that they could retrieve them later without further incident. It’s hard to imagine that bar rabble didn’t speak in 6-inch voices and sip on O’Douls when he was present.
Mr. T’s bouncing career carried him into the job of bodyguard for celebrities. The likes of Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen and Diana Ross were some of his clients. Modestly, his business card stated: Next to God, there is not greater protector than I. (So he wasn’t one for grammar.)
The “A”-ties
Incidentally, Mr. T’s experience as a bouncer would also set his path to stardom. In 1982, Mr. T won the prestigious “America’s Toughest Bouncer” contest on a TV game show. Watching that fateful night was Sylvester Stallone. He cast the reigning bouncer champion to fight fictional boxing champion Rocky Balboa in Rocky III as his opponent Clubber Lang. Mr. T would go on to lose the match, which would start putting the Rocky series’ believability into question.
However, the movie launched his career and the new actor was in high-demand. Mr. T was soon cast into his most famous role of Sergeant Bosco “B.A.” Baracus in the over-the-top action television program the A-Team, which aired from 1983 to 1987. He also made cameo appearances on other popular TV shows, such as Silver Spoons and Diff’rent Strokes.
1984 was a busy year for Mr. T. He filmed his very own motivational video titled, Be Somebody…or Be Somebody’s Fool! Geared towards children, Mr. T offered words of wisdom on how they can better their lives by acting responsibly. It is believed that everyone who watched the video went on to become a doctor or president of an industrialized country. That year, Mr. T also recorded a rap album called Mr. T’s Commandments. No word yet on whether they will replace Israel’s Top Ten.
Throughout the ’80s Mr. T’s popularity even garnered him his own cartoon and cereal. Plus, he became a staple of the World Wrestling Federation, appearing in a variety of top-billed matches as a partner of Hulk Hogan against the forces of “Rowdy” Roddy Piper. It was a simpler time, when people believed wrestling was real.
The Decline
Mr. T’s success started to fade in the 1990s when the public became infatuated with self-loathing grunge rockers and arty independent films. The demand for over-charged brutes in out-of-date clothing had fallen hard. Roles became scarce for Mr. T, as he only appeared in a few mediocre commercials.
In 1995, he was diagnosed with T-Lymphoma cancer, and although he would go on to kill the cancer with his bare hands in 2001, for the first time in his life, Mr. T could be pitied.
TV Funhouse
Mr. T started to come back into the public eye in 2000 through these popular parodies. The Saturday Night Live segment, “TV Funhouse” started airing “The All-New Adventures of Mr. T”, a spoof of his ’80s cartoon, Mister T. In it, Mr. T was depicted in humorous, yet unflattering situations. Nonetheless, it jogged people’s memories that this guy still existed.
The “T” Man Today
You can bet your ass that Mr. T turned down his role in the new film adaptation of the A-Team. Producers would have been idiots not to offer him the part. B.A. Baracus is now UFC fighter Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Like Mr. T, Jackson has experience in martial arts, wrestling, and stealing fools’ lunch money, but he lacks the charm, grit and gold expertise.
As the ’80s pick up steam in this century, Mr. T’s career charges back from the fringe of obscurity. Along with other beloved stars like Chuck Norris, he shows up in a variety of books and television programs, making appearances on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and even a Busta Rhymes music video. He is seen most often as a pitchman and avatar in commercials for the videogame phenomenon World of Warcraft.
(WoW nerd jokes at your own risk.)
But the Mr. T of today is not quite the same as the one of yore. He’s older, wiser, less physically imposing than he used to be, and since Hurricane Katrina, he refuses to wear the gold adornments.
Nevertheless, he is still the only “T” there will ever be.
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