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== Album ==
== Album ==
[[Image:MrTs-album-Commandments-1984.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Album cover to ''Mr. T's Commandments''.]]
[[Image:MrTs-album-Commandments-1984.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Album cover to ''Mr. T's Commandments''.]]
Mr. T in [[1984 in music|1984]] released a rap album titled ''Mr. T's Commandments'' much in the same tone as his 1984 educational video which instructs children to stay in school and to stay away from drugs. This was later followed by a second album, the same year titled ''Mr. T's Be Somebody Or Be Somebody's Fool'', which featured music from the video of the same name.He also stars in WWE Champion John Cena`s music videos such as Bad Man and others in Cena`s album,You Can`t See Me.
Mr. T in [[1984 in music|1984]] released a rap album titled ''Mr. T's Commandments'' much in the same tone as his 1984 educational video which instructs children to stay in school and to stay away from drugs. This was later followed by a second album, the same year titled ''Mr. T's Be Somebody Or Be Somebody's Fool'', which featured music from the video of the same name. He also stars in WWE Champion John Cena`s music videos such as Bad Man and others in Cena`s album,You Can`t See Me.


=== Singles ===
=== Singles ===

Revision as of 13:18, 28 December 2006

This article is about the actor. For other uses, see Mr. T (disambiguation).
Mr. T
Born
Laurence Tureaud
SpousePhyllis Clark - (1971-????)

Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud on May 21, 1952) is an American actor and former professional wrestler known for his roles as Sgt. Bosco "B.A." Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team and as boxer "Clubber Lang" in the 1982 film, Rocky III. He is also well-known for his distinctive Mohawk hairstyle and for wearing an extreme amount of gold jewelry. It is rumored that his jewelery weighed at least 30lbs and that was why Mr.T was always seen wearing a back belt. It is said that it took him up to an hour to remove all the gold around his neck.Eventually, he just kept it on because of the time it took to put it all on. People who wear multiple gold chains are often referred to as wearing a "Mr.T starter kit."

File:Clubber lang3.jpg
Mr. T (right) as Clubber Lang in Rocky III.

Acting career

Hulk Hogan and Mr. T at the first WrestleMania
File:MrsReaganMrT.jpg
First Lady Nancy Reagan and Mr. T at the White House Cross Hall, Christmas, 1983.

In 1982, Mr. T was spotted by Sylvester Stallone while taking part in "The World's Toughest Bouncer" contest with Lee Dittrich. His role in Rocky III was originally intended as just a few lines, but Stallone built up the part around the man. His catch phrase, "I pity the fool!" comes from the film, where he played a boxer facing Rocky Balboa in a match. When asked if he hated Rocky, his character replied, "I don't hate Balboa, but I pity the fool."

After losing out on the role of the title character's mentor in The Beastmaster, Mr. T appeared in another boxing film, Penitentiary 2, and in a cable television special, Bizarre, before accepting the role of B.A. in The A-Team.

In The A-Team, he played Sergeant B.A. (Bosco Albert or "Bad Attitude") Baracus, an ex-army commando on the run with three other members from the U.S. government "for a crime they didn't commit." When asked at a press conference whether he was as stupid as B.A. Baracus, he observed quietly, "It takes a smart guy to play dumb." He was the only main character in the show who did not have to audition for the role; he was pre-selected.

A Ruby-Spears produced Saturday morning cartoon called Mr. T premiered in 1983 on NBC. The Mister T cartoon starred Mr. T as himself, the owner of a gym where a group of gymnasts trained. He would help them with their training, but they would also help him solve mysteries and fight crime. Thirty episodes were produced.

Mr. T was such a big hit with kids in the 1980s that a cereal was produced with his image on the box with the puffed cereal pieces shaped like the letter T. Pee-Wee Herman can be seen having a bowl of "T"s in his movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.

In 1984, he made a motivational video called Be Somebody or Be Somebody's Fool. He gives helpful advice to children throughout the video; for example, he teaches them how to understand and appreciate their origins, how to dress fashionably without buying designer labels, how to make tripping up look like breakdancing, how to control their anger, and how to deal with peer pressure. The video is roughly one hour long, but contains 30 minutes of singing, either by the mob of children accompanying him, or by Mr. T himself. He sings "Treat Your Mother Right (Treat Her Right)", in which he enumerates the reasons why it is important to treat your mother right, and also raps a song about growing up in the ghetto and praising God. The raps in this video were written by Ice T[1]. That same year he released a related rap album titled Mr. T's Commandments. Ice-T is credited for Rap Direction on tracks A2, A3, B2, and B3" [2].

An issue of the Mr. T comic book

He entered the world of professional wrestling in 1985. He was Hulk Hogan's tag-team partner at the first WrestleMania. Hulk Hogan wrote in his autobiography that Mr. T endangered the main event of WrestleMania I between them and "Rowdy" Roddy Piper and "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff because when he arrived and security would not let his large entourage into the building, he threatened to walk out. Hogan claims he had to personally talk Mr. T into staying and performing. Piper has said that he and other fellow wrestlers resented Mr. T because he was an actor and had not paid his dues as a professional wrestler. Mr. T later took on Bob Orton in a boxing match on an episode of Saturday Night's Main Event on NBC. This ultimately culminated in another boxing match against Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 2. He returned to the World Wrestling Federation as a special guest referee in 1987, before disappearing from the wrestling world. He reappeared as a special referee for a Hogan-Ric Flair match, seven years later in World Championship Wrestling, in October 1994.

Mr. T also appeared in the three year long syndicated series, T. and T. Starring alongside him were Alex Amini, David Nerman, Kristina Nicoll, and Jackie Richardson. Mr. T starred as T. S. Turner who was a city smart kid fighting his way off the street until he was framed for a crime he didn't commit. Amy Taler (Amini) a young crusading lawyer, mounted an appeal to put Turner back on the street, this time in a suit and tie, working as a PI. Lawyer Terri Taylor (Nicoll) joined T after Amini left the show after two seasons.

Mr. T was once reported to be earning around $80,000 a week for his role in The A-Team and getting $15,000 for personal appearances, but by the end of the 1990s, he was appearing only in the occasional commercial, largely because of health problems. (In 1995, he was, somewhat ironically, diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma).

He took small roles in several films, and frequently appears on the TBN Christian television network. He has appeared in commercials for MCI's 1-800-COLLECT collect-call service and on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. He has also appeared in Comcast commercials during 2006, invoking his favorite four-letter word: "Don't be a culture fool!" and also appeared on ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

A reality television show for TV Land, I Pity the Fool, premiered on October 11, 2006. The announced six-episode series finds him assisting those in need. [3]

Album

File:MrTs-album-Commandments-1984.jpg
Album cover to Mr. T's Commandments.

Mr. T in 1984 released a rap album titled Mr. T's Commandments much in the same tone as his 1984 educational video which instructs children to stay in school and to stay away from drugs. This was later followed by a second album, the same year titled Mr. T's Be Somebody Or Be Somebody's Fool, which featured music from the video of the same name. He also stars in WWE Champion John Cena`s music videos such as Bad Man and others in Cena`s album,You Can`t See Me.

Singles

Year Title Album US UK
1984 "Mr. T's Commandments" Mr. T's Commandments 75 -
  • Stopped wearing his gold in 2005, out of respect for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and that "the gold is now in [my] heart." [4] Any reports that he sold his gold and gave the money to hurricane victims is unsubstantiated.
  • Mr. T is frequently referenced in the "Players' Pulse" (reader mail) section of Nintendo Power.
  • A Saturday Night Live sketch in the 1980s featuring Mr. T and Robin Duke (in a similar Mohawk hairstyle) hawking a Bloody Mary mix inspired the subsequent commercial release of Mr. & Mrs. T's Bloody Mary Mix which is still available to this day.
  • Mr. T had licensed his image to a food company for a breakfast cereal. During the commercials for his eponymous cereal, Mr. T would use his catchphrase of "I pity the fool who don't eat my cereal!"
  • Mr. T's cereal was famously featured in a scene of the movie Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, in which Pee-Wee eats a bowl of Mr. T cereal while doing an impersonation of Mr. T himself.
  • He was featured in an episode of the animated children's TV show, Alvin and the Chipmunks, in which he helps recover a watch from some neighborhood bullies, "The C-Team", similar to The A-Team.
  • Mr. T was a guest star in the sitcom Silver Spoons where he played Ricky Stratton's bodyguard hired to protect Ricky from a school bully. When asked his middle name, he answers "Period."
  • He was the subject of recurring "The All New Adventures of Mr. T" sketch on Saturday Night Live by Robert Smigel where, in a parody of his 1980s cartoon, he and a group of teenagers drive around in a van, à la Scooby-Doo, and have adventures while Mr. T tries to find work.
  • In an effort to revitalise his career after his bout with sickle-cell anemia, Mr. T made frequent cameos on Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
  • Mr. T has also been referred to in the animated comedy, Family Guy, numerous times. In one episode, Cleveland Brown portrayed Mr. T's A-Team character B.A. Baracas, shouting, "I pity the fool...", only to politely add, "... but I also suggest ways he may better himself." Ironically, Mr. T would do just that in his reality series I Pity The Fool one year later.
  • Californian band The Mr. T Experience are named after the man himself, with lead singer Dr. Frank being a fan of The A-Team and other 1980s television shows.
  • One of the enemies in the arcade version of Double Dragon, Abobo, clearly resembles Mr. T.
  • In the PC adventure/comedy game Simon the Sorcerer II, the player's character (Simon) finds himself together with Mr. T, where they are both shackled prisoners in the galley of a pirate ship. Any attempt at conversation is met with "Shut up fool! I'm trying to escape!" - even after the player's character has successfully freed himself!
  • On the popular British Comedy TV Show Mr. Bean it shows a Mr. T bedspread on the main character's (Mr. Bean) bed.
  • The B.A. Baracus Band, a Canadian band known for covering 1980s music, takes their name from the character Mr. T played on the television program The A-Team.
  • His tremendous popularity among Filipinos led his film D.C. Cab to be re-released in Philippine theaters under the title Mr. T and Company in 1988, five years after the film's initial release.
  • In Megas XLR, episode "The Return", T-Bot has many similarities to Mr.T.
  • There is a sketch on the British comedy series Little Britain in which a man who bears a striking resemblance to Mr. T is working out in a gym. When confronted by another gym member about his appearrance, he admits he's never even heard of Mr. T or his show The A-Team. He then drinks a glass of milk and drives off in his D.C. Cab (the A-Team van).
  • Electronic Arts' Madden Challenge football tournament tour included "Mr C.", an impression of Mr. T. done by the tournament tour's commissioner Frank "The Commish", often using the famous catch phrase "I pity the fool" who doesn't play using the Chicago Bears.
  • In The Simpsons episode where Homer is afraid to be a NASA astronaut, he says to Marge over the phone: "This is like when I could've met Mr. T at the mall! I kept saying 'I'll go a little later'! But when I got there, he was gone. And when I asked the mall guy if he was coming back, he said he didn't know!" He also made an appearance in Krusty The Clown's Party Bar Mitzvah, attaching himself to a spinning wheel that shoots fire, and saying, "Spin me, Clown!"
  • In the TV series South Park, the character Eric Cartman has a poster of Mr. T in his bedroom. Also in the episode "Ike's Wee Wee", Mr. T and the A-Team rescue the school guidance counselor.
  • Mr. T was mentioned in the movie Without a Paddle.
  • Mr. T Versus Everything is an old but still running Internet archive of fan-made Photoshopped comics of Mr. T vanquishing an unusual archenemy, usually that of pop culture, such as a celebrity or a TV show. In each comic, Mr. T always states how fast his van is, how far he can throw 'foos', and how good milk and youth centers are. This is similar to the Chuck Norris Facts Internet meme.
  • In the SNES RPG Earthbound a sprite looking similar to Mr.T can be seen walking around town.
  • His image was used in the arcade fighting game Vendetta, under the name Sledge. Van Dann, Hulk Hogan and *unknown* appearances were also used. The game was involved fighting through different street levels to save a member of his gang.
  • In the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Cartoon) episode The Wrong Stuff, an obvious Mr. T parody character called Mr. C appears.
  • As a recurring character in the popular but discontinued Channel 4 teletext magazine, Digitiser.

Filmography

See also

Wikiquote has quotations related to Mr. T.

Dr. Phil-style

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