Historical Figures Codexery

Mr. T

I pity the fool!

He is famous for playing B. A. Baracus on The A-Team and Clubber Lang in Rocky III.[1] His trademark hairstyle was inspired by Mandinka warriors he saw in National Geographic.[2]

Quick Facts

Born
21 May 1952
Birthplace
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Occupation
  • Actor
  • wrestler
  • television personality
Years active
1980–present

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Mr. T was the youngest of twelve children raised in a three-room apartment in Chicago's Robert Taylor Homes.[3] He attended Dunbar Vocational High School, playing football and wrestling.[4] After his discharge, a knee injury ended his tryout for the Green Bay Packers.[5] He then worked as a bouncer at Dingbats Discotheque, where he created the Mr. T persona and began wearing gold jewelry left behind by customers.[6]

Sylvester Stallone spotted him on NBC and cast him as Clubber Lang in Rocky III.[7] His catchphrase "I pity the fool" was written by Stallone for that film.[8] After being expelled from Prairie View A&M University, where he had attended on a football scholarship, Tureaud became a gym instructor for a Chicago government program.[5][9] In 1975, he joined the U.S. Army and served within the Military Police Corps.[9]

Mr. T came in third place in the "America's Toughest Bouncer" competition, but later won two consecutive tough-man contests, the second of which aired under the title Games People Play.[10][11]

What the cited sources add

A 2006 book by Andrews McMeel Publishing states Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud on May 21, 1952.[12][13] A 2016 McFarland & Company encyclopedia documents that the Mister T cartoon ran for thirty episodes, each bookended by Mr. T with a lesson for children.[14][15]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Merv Griffin Show 1983", YouTube (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mentioned in a number of interviews, including Mr. T: Pity The Fool , allhiphop.com, Published Thursday, November 9, 2006. Mr. T gives a 1977 date, for an artic (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The Robert Taylor Homes opens", African American Registry; Kleban, "Mr. T's Sibs Are Teed Off Over Their Bro's New Book", October 1, 1984 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dunbar at a glance", Chicago Sun-Times, December 29, 1993, p. 76 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mr. T Biography", Biography.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Mr. T sued for second time this year", UPI.com, September 20, 1984; "To have a comeback, you have to have a setback", Crain's Chicago Business, July 22, 2006; Mr. T., "Mr. T: Tough and Tender in Barbara Walters Interview", p. 56 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Biography of Mr. T", Starpulse.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cronin, "Did B.A. Baracus Never Actually Say 'I Pity the Fool' on 'The A-Team'?", Huffington Post, July 24, 2015 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jarvis, "The A-Team's Mr. T", PEOPLE.com, May 30, 1983 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mr. T 1985, p. 27; Mr. T 1985, p. 27 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mr. T 1985, p. 27 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Open Library record, ISBN 0740758101 ("When they were 22"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  13. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dunn, "When They Were 22: 100 Famous People at the Turning Point in Their Lives", Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2006, p. 150; Kleban, "Mr. T's Sibs Are Teed Off Over Their Bro's New Book", October 1, 1984; Jarvis, "The A-Team's Mr. T", PEOPLE.com, May 30, 1983; "Would You Fight This Man? Sly Stallone Did, and Now Mr T Is a Winner in Rocky III", PEOPLE.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Open Library record, ISBN 9781476665993 ("Television Cartoon Shows"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
  15. Wikipedia, "Mr. T" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Erickson, "Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003", McFarland & Co, 2005, p. 559–560 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Mr. T (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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