Actors

Laurence Tureaud, better known as Mr. T, was born in Chicago, IL.  At one time, he was a bodyguard to stars such as Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson, Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier and Diana Ross.  Sylvester discovered Mr. T and gave him a role in Rocky III as boxer “Clubber Lang”.  Tureaud joined the cast of The A-Team as gruff, touch, no-bluff “B. A. Baracus”.  After the demise of The A-Team, he was given his own crime series called T. and T. in the lead role of “T. S. Turner”.  The show lasted three seasons.  Other film credits include The Magic of the Golden Bear: Goldy III starring Cheech Marin, Judgment, and the comedy Not Another Teen Movie.
In explaining why he calls himself Mr. T,  Tureaud said:  “I think about my father being called ‘boy’, my uncle being called ‘boy’, my brother, coming back from Vietnam and being called ‘boy’.  So I questioned myself: ‘What does a black man have to do before he’s given the respect as a man?’  So when I was 18 years old, when I was old enough to fight and die for my country, old enough to drink, old enough to vote, I said I was old enough to be called a man.  I self-ordained myself Mr. T so the first word out of everybody’s mouth is ‘Mr.’ That’s a sign of respect that my father didn’t get, that my brother didn’t get, that my mother get”.