Mr. T

Mr. T is a born-again Christian. He was married to Phyllis Clark and has children, including daughter Erica Clark, who is a comedian.

In 1995, he was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, also described as cutaneous T-cell lymphoma or mycosis fungoides. His cancer went into remission in 2001. After helping with cleanup efforts following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, he stopped wearing nearly all of his gold jewelry because he felt continuing to wear it would be insensitive to people who had lost their homes and possessions.

Born Laurence Tureaud, Mr. T grew up on Chicago's South Side as one of twelve children. He attended Dunbar Vocational High School, where he played football, studied martial arts and became a city wrestling champion. He received a football scholarship to Prairie View A&M University, studied mathematics and left after being expelled following his first year. He later served in the United States Army Military Police Corps.

After leaving the Army, Tureaud worked as a Chicago nightclub bouncer and then spent nearly ten years as a bodyguard. His clients included Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, Steve McQueen and Diana Ross. During this period he developed his distinctive public image, wearing gold jewelry and adopting a Mohawk-like hairstyle inspired by a photograph of a Mandinka warrior.

At age 18, he legally changed his surname to T in response to the disrespect he had seen directed at Black men in his family. In 1980, Sylvester Stallone saw him compete in a televised bouncer contest and cast him as Clubber Lang in Rocky III. The role made Mr. T widely known, and the film introduced his signature line, "I pity the fool!"

Mr. T's next major role was Sergeant Bosco "B. A." Baracus in the television action series The A-Team, which ran from 1983 to 1987. B. A. was an escaped military convict who became part of a team helping people while on the run from the government. The role established Mr. T as one of the most recognizable television stars of the 1980s.

He also starred in the film D.C. Cab and headlined the animated series Mister T. In the cartoon, he owned a gym, coached young athletes and helped them solve crimes and mysteries while presenting moral lessons. In 1984, he released the album Mr. T's Commandments, which encouraged children to make responsible choices. He also made the motivational video and soundtrack project Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool!

Mr. T entered professional wrestling in 1985 and became Hulk Hogan's tag-team partner at the first WrestleMania. They defeated Paul Orndorff and Roddy Piper in the event's main match. Mr. T and Piper later faced each other in a boxing match at WrestleMania 2, which Mr. T won by disqualification.

He returned to the World Wrestling Federation as a special guest referee in 1987 and later appeared in World Class Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling. In 1994, he served as a referee for a match involving Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair and defeated Kevin Sullivan at Starrcade. Mr. T was inducted into the celebrity wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014.

After The A-Team ended, Mr. T starred in the syndicated series T. and T., which ran from 1988 to 1990. He later appeared in films and television programs including Inspector Gadget, Not Another Teen Movie, Judgment and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, in which he voiced Officer Earl Devereaux.

He hosted the reality series I Pity the Fool in 2006 and presented the BBC Three clip show World's Craziest Fools from 2011 to 2013. In 2017, he competed on season 24 of Dancing with the Stars with professional dancer Kym Herjavec and finished in tenth place.