July 12, 2019 ▸ History, People

Episode 402: Mr. T–I Pity the Fool!

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On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we talk about the ultimate icon from the 1980’s, Mr. T. He was born Laurence Tero Tureaud and was the child of a preacher who abandoned him and his 11 siblings in housing projects in Chicago. But Mr. T went from welfare to army to bouncer to super star, all based on his bad attitude and his love for children. He definitely pitied some fools and inspired an entire generation to drink their milk and stay in school.

Raised by a single mother, young Laurence was a superior athlete and set records in football and wrestling. He got into college on a football scholarship but was expelled for unknown reasons. He eventually joined the army and became the top cadet out of 6000. He became an MP and eventually mustered out to civilian life where he tried pro football but had to back out due to an injury.

From there, he went back to the streets of Chicago as a bouncer. In just a few years, he got in over 200 fights at bars. Here, he saw a Mandingo warrior in a magazine and took their mohawk hair style. He also started to take the gold chains off of people who he had to kick out of bars, challenging them to come back and take them. They never did. And in the ultimate feat of bad attitude, he change his name from Laurence to Mr. T. This was because he wanted the respect his father and ancestors never did; he wanted everyone to call him mister. And they did.

He gained fame as a bouncer and parlayed that into a career as a celebrity body guard watching professional boxers, singer, even Steve McQueen and Michael Jackson. Eventually, he landed a gig on some tough man contests on TV, and this got him discovered. He knocked a man out in 54 seconds on live TV, and Sylvester Stallone saw it and wanted him for Rocky III. Mr. T became Clubber Lane, and the line “I pity the fool” was born.

From here, Mr. T’s star went super nova. He launched The A-Team which was a massive hit and starred in several other films and TV shows. He even started a children’s cartoon and launched a breakfast cereal. In spite of him being a terrifying man with a famous scowl and world class smack talk, he somehow became a champion of children. He released an album and a very strange video that told them to stay in school, take their vitamins, and say no to strangers.

Eventually, he walked out of the lime light due to T-Cell Lymphoma, but once it was in remission, he started taking smaller film and TV rolls again. He’s got a few reality shows under his belt and a strange but amazing on-air friendship with Conan O’Brien. Now, he’s still a star, still has a bad attitude, and still pities the fool.

Mr. T meets Gary Coleman: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x578pg8