Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud on 21 May 1952 in the rough southside
ghetto area of Chicago. He is the second to youngest oftwelve children
(he has four sisters and seven brothers) and grew up in the housing
projects of Chicago. His father left when he was 5,and his mother
raised the family on $87 a month welfare in a three-room apartment. Mr.
T's brothers encouraged him to build up his bodyin order to survive in
the area, and he has commented, "If you think I'm big, you should see
my brothers!" His mother is a religious woman, who has had a strong
influence on him. He says, "Any man whodon't love his momma can't be no
friend of mine."
He was an average student in school.
"Most of the time," hesays, "I stared out the windows, just
daydreaming. I didn't study much because I have a photographic memory."
Apart from one spell between 5th and 7th grades when he went a little
astray -- playing hookey, cursing, acting tough, being disrespectful --
he was a well-behaved child. (He worried about how his mother would
feel if he ended up in jail, and stayed out of trouble!) He attended
Dunbar Vocational High School.
He was a college
football star, studied martial arts, and wasthree times city wrestling
champion! He won a scholarship toPrairie View A&M University in
Texas, but was thrown out after a year-- after that he went to a couple
of little colleges in Chicago, always on an athletic scholarship.
When he left college, Mr. T was a military policeman in the USArmy.
After that, he was invited to try out for the Green BayPackers, but a
knee injury finished his professional football career. He became a
'minder', and remained largely in that professionfor about nine years.
He has bodyguarded such stars as Muhammed Ali,Leon Spinks, Michael
Jackson, Steve McQueen, Diana Ross and LeVarBurton. He charged about
$3,000 a day (more for 'special' jobs) andhis business card reads,
'Next to God, there is no better protector than I'. He boasts that he
never lost a client. Of the job he says,"I got hurt worse growing up in
the ghetto than working as a bodyguard." He believed in having a very
professional attitudetoward the job, preventing trouble from even
starting rather thanhaving to sort it out once it had. "I was a very
dapper dresser,"he recalls. "I shaved my head, wore derby hats, white
gloves, 3-piece suits, carried a cane. I never went any place without a
freshcarnation or a rosebud in my lapel."
When he
wasn't working as a bodyguard, he filled in by working as a bouncer.
One job he had was at Dingbat's club in Chicago. Club owner Ron Riskman
says, "He was always very smartly dressed andhe shaved his head
completely bald. He'd confront trouble makersand say to them, "It's
only fair to warn you that my patience is aslong as the hair on my
head." Most of them would get pretty quietafter that."
He changed his name in 1970 by deed poll to Laurence Tero, andlater to
Mr. T in order that people would HAVE to address him as"Mr."
It was whilst reading "National Geographic" that Mr. T first saw the
hairstyle for which he is now famous -- on a Mandinka warrior. He felt
that adopting the style was a powerful statementabout his origins.
In 1975 he worked for a while on the Chicago educationalscheme as a gym
teacher. In 1978 he decided to do something definite about his
religious beliefs and was rebaptised in theCosmopolitan Community
Church in Chicago.
In 1982, Mr. T was 'spotted' by
Sylvester Stallone; he was onthe TV show "Games People Play," taking
part in "The World's Toughest Bouncer" contest -- tossing two stuntmen
about quitecasually! His role in "Rocky III" was originally intended as
just afew lines, but Stallone built up the part around the man. Mr.
Talso appeared in another boxing film, "Penitentiary 2," and in acable
TV special, "Bizarre," before accepting the role of BA in "The A-Team."
Mr. T is 5'11" tall, and weighs somewhere between 216 lb and237 lb (the
former is the lightest report I've encountered, thelatter is his
fighting weight given in the second bout in "Rocky III.")That gold
jewelry IS real, and is worth around $300,000. He is reported to earn
around $80,000 a week for his role in the A-Team,though, and gets
$15,000 for a personal appearance, so he can afford to support his
eccentricity! His earrings are especially made sothat they won't damage
his ears if they are caught during a fight(they'll just slip free), and
he wears seven because of the religioussignificance of the numbers 3,
4, and 7. (?? Can anyone explain thisexactly to me? --nicole) It takes
him about an hour to put it on,incidentaly, and most nights he cleans
it in an ultrasonic cleaner...although some nights he sleeps in it "to
see how my ancestors, whowere slaves, felt." He gives much the same
response if asked if it isheavy--nobody ever asked those enslaved
ancestors if THEIR chains areheavy! He has a point.
He
makes little effort, he claims, to keep his body in shape, andis a
confirmed junk food addict-- triple-decker hamburgers have
beenmentioned! He currently lives alone in a tower block apartment in
theWestwood area of Los Angeles. He spends a great deal of time with
hisfamily in Chicago, however, and with his 13-year-old daughter
Lesa(the result of a teenage love affair) who lives there with her
mother.He is very active in community work, and is often to be found
inMacLaren Hall, Los Angeles, a shelter for abused children bevcause,he
says, "There's no telling how many lives you can turn around." Heis
very conscious of his responsibility toward the children who admirehim
and never drinks, smokes or takes drugs of any kind. He refuses totake
any acting role that casts him as 'bad', and isn't keen on doingwhat he
refers to as 'mushy scenes.' "My style," he says, "is alwaysa hungry
fighter."
In the break between seasons of The A-Team,
Mr. T has been making a low-budget comedy movie, "DC Cab," which also
stars GaryBusey and Musical Youth. In it, he plays a taxi driver who
protects kids from hoods. Also in the works is "Rev T," in which he
plays agarbage collector who lauches a neighborhood compaign against
drugsand crime. NBC is also making a series of cartoons based on 'the
adventures of Mr. T.' He has made several guest appearances; one
in"Silver Spoons" (which we don't get in the UK), and in the season
opener pf "Diff'rent Strokes." In the latter, the A-Team spends theweek
filming in the Drummond Apartment, and little Arnold has anidentity
crisis when he learns that his new girlfriend is only usinghim to meet
Mr. T. He attempts to emulate his idol (he looksridiculous with a
Mandinka!) and is told, firmly, "You gotta be yourown original." That's
probably Mr. T's most valuable statement.
For the
future, Mr. T hopes to become a preacher in about fiveyears' time. When
asked at a Press conference whether he is as thickas BA Baracus, he
observed (quietly, because he usually DOES speakquietly!), "It takes a
smart guy to play dumb."
From "The A-Team File #1", a British fanzine from 1983. Re-Type from Nicole Pellegri in On The Jazz! Volume 1 Issue(s) 16 & 17
