You have to pity the fool whose first-ever Mr. T. sighting came Monday night, courtesy of the Season 24 premiere of “Dancing with the Stars.” When the “Mr. T”-emblazoned van pulled onstage in a puff of smoke and our hero jumped out bedecked in his signature gold chains, African Mandinka warrior hairdo and camouflage jumpsuit, some viewers may have wondered who and what he was. Here’s what they’ve been missing until now:
"Mr. T" was the breakout star of one of the top-rated TV shows in the 1980s, "The A-Team." Yes, kids, before the dreadful 2010 movie version, the series about a group of Vietnam War era soldiers falsely accused of a crime who become)(do-gooding) mercenaries ran from 1982-1987 on NBC. It ranked in the top 10 for four seasons, and Mr. T's "B.A. (for Bad Attitude) Baracus" character became a pop culture icon -- reportedly much to the annoyance of George Peppard, the movie star ("Breakfast at Tiffany's") who was supposed to be the show's star as the leader of the A-Team, Lt. Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith. You can catch reruns of "The A-Team" weeknight's on cable's COZI TV.
Related video: See Mr. T Cha Cha on “Dancing with the Stars”
Mr. T created "Mr. T" in the 1970s, while working as a bouncer. Born Lawrence Tureaud in 1952, he grew up in a three-room apartment in a Chicago housing project, where he was one of 12 children and the youngest son of a minister. In high school, he studied martial arts and played football and wrestled (he was citywide champ for two years), enlisted in the Army and had a tryout with the Green Bay Packers after being discharged. He then worked as a nightclub bouncer, where he came up with the gruff persona who donned the gold jewelry customers tended to leave behind. Later, he became a celebrity bodyguard to the likes of Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
But it was another celebrity, Sylvester Stallone, who gave him his big acting break and his signature catchphrase. Despite popular belief, Mr. T never said "I pity the fool!" on "The A-Team." Instead, Stallone saw him competing on "America's Toughest Bouncer" on NBC and cast him as antagonist Clubber Lang in 1982's "Rocky III." T's "I just feel sorry for the guy who I have to box" on NBC morphed into "I pity the fool" on the big screen. It stuck, big time.
Mr. T is no dummy. Before joining the Army, he spent a year in college where he majored in math. Asked during the height of "The A-Team" frenzy if he was as stupid as B.A. Baracus, he replied, "It takes a smart guy to play dumb." And indeed, he parlayed his fame into Mr. T. cereal (it's for sale on ebay). a Mr. T cartoon series on NBC, and a role in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure." In 2006, he starred in a TV Land series called -- what else? -- "I Pity the Fool." Hhe showed up at people's homes or workplaces and helped them fix their lives Mr. T style:
"My show ain't no Dr. Phil where people sit around crying, 'What's wrong with me, Dr. Phil? What's wrong with me, Dr. Phil?'” he explained the premise to a group of TV critics. You are a fool! That's what's wrong with you!"
He's a born-again Christian, who beat cancer and helped with post-Hurricane Katrina cleanup in New Orleans. Diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma in 1995, Mr. T is now cancer free. Years later, the "I Pity the Fool" star explained how witnessing others' suffering had altered his larger-than-life persona as well: "I stopped wearing the gold as of last year during Katrina. As a spiritual man, I felt it would be a sin against my God for me to wear all that gold again. People now on my show, they'll see the gold is in my heart." (Note: Some of the gold chains were back on "Dancing with the Stars")
One of his kids is a stand-up comedian. Not much is known about Mr. T's family life, although he reportedly married Phyllis Clark in 1971 and they have three children. One of his two daughters, Erica Clark, gave up her decade-long job as a special education teacher a few years ago to pursue a career in stand-up comedy. Growing up, she joked to NBC News, she had plenty of material:
"I always thought it was funny. My dad had on gold chains and everyone else's dad had on a suit," said Clark. "Of course I know it wasn't normal."
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