Mr. T

Born: Laurence Tureaud. 21 May 1952, Chicago.

Most notably, the star of 1980s Television series The A-Team. Mr. T Starred ad BA Barraccus an ex army commando?. He is the second to youngest of twelve children, he has four sisters and seven brothers and grew up in the [housing projects]? of Chicago.

Mr. T is 5'11" tall, and weighs somewhere between 216 lb and 237 lb. His gold jewelry is real, and is worth around $300,000. It takes him about an hour to put it on and most nights he cleans it in an ultrasonic cleaner although some nights he sleeps in it "to see how my ancestors, who were slaves, felt." He was once reported to be earning around $80,000 a week for his role in The A-Team, and gettting $15,000 for personal appearances.

He was a college football star, he studied [Martial Arts]?, He won a scholarship to Prairie View A&M University, Texas, but was thrown out after a year. After that he went to a couple of small Chicago colleges on athletic scholarships. After leaving college he was a Military Policeman in the US Army before trying out for the Green Bay Packers. His professional football career was finished however by a knee injury.

For around nine years he was a bodyguard? to the stars, protecting such well know personalities as [Muhammed Ali]?, Michael Jackson and [Diana Ross]?. He charged around $3,000 a day and his business card famously read 'Next to God, there is no better protector than I'. He always boasts that he never lost a client saying "I got hurt worse growing up in the ghetto? than working as a bodyguard."

In 1970 he changed his name by deed poll from Laurence Tureaud to Laurence Tero and then later to 'Mr. T' so that people would have to address him as 'Mr.' It was whilst reading "[National Geographic]?" that Mr. T first saw the unique hairstyle for which he is now famous, on an African? Mandinka warrior. He decided that adopting the style was a powerful statement about his African origins.

In 1982 Mr. T was spotted by [Sylvester Stallone]? while taking part in "The World's Toughest Bouncer" contest. His role in "Rocky III" was originally intended as just a few lines, but Stallone built up the part around the man. Mr. T also appeared in another boxing film, "Penitentiary 2," and in a [cable television]? special, "Bizarre," before accepting the role of BA in The A-Team. When asked at a Press conference whether he is as stupid as BA Baracus, he observed quietly, "It takes a smart guy to play dumb."