Mr. T or Laurence Tureaud first appeared in an uncredited role in ‘The Blues Brothers’ (1980) and ‘Penitentiary II’ (1982).
After Sylvester Stallone noticed him in the TV-competition ‘America’s Toughest Bouncer,’ Mr. T was shortlisted for a small role in ‘Rocky III’ (1982), but he was subsequently cast as the main adversary, ‘Clubber Lang,’ which made him famous for his catch-phrase ‘I pity the fool.’
Mr. T further appeared in episodes of comedy-series ‘Bizarre’ and ‘Silver Spoons.’ Then he was cast as ‘Sgt. B.A. Baracus’ in the TV-series ‘The A-Team’ (1983-1987). The success of the series and his character made him a popular star, leading to guest-appearances in the sitcom ‘Different Strokes,’ the animated-series ‘Alvin & the Chipmunks,’ and others.
Mr. T further featured as his alter-ego in the animated-series ‘Mr. T’ (1983-1985), wherein the episodes had something to learn from for children. He played the central character in the comedy-film ‘D.C. Cab’ (1983).
Next, Mr. T hosted ‘Be Somebody…or Be Somebody’s Fool’ (1984), a motivational video helping children build self-confidence, anger-management and more. In the TV-movie ‘The Toughest Men in the World’ (1984), he played the good-hearted bouncer ‘Bruise Brubaker.’
Mr. T hosted an episode of ‘Saturday Night Live’ (1984) and appeared in single episodes of several series. He also starred in the reality-series ‘I Pity the Fool’ (2006).
He further starred in the Canadian TV-series ‘T. and T.’ (1988). Mr. T appeared in comedy-films ‘Freaked’ (1993), spy-parody ‘Spy Hard’ (1996), ‘Inspector Gadget’ (1999), ‘Not Another Teen Movie’ (2001) and voice-acted in ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’ (2009). He was presenter of the clip-show ‘World’s Craziest Fools’ (2011), and participated as a contestant in season 24 of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ (2017).
