Mr. T

Laurence Tureaud (born May 21, 1952), known professionally as Mr. T, is an American actor and retired professional wrestler known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team and as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III. \n', ' Mr. T is known for his distinctive hairstyle inspired by warriors of Mandinka nation in West Africa, his gold jewelry, and his tough-guy image. In 2006, he starred in I Pity the Fool, a reality show shown on TV Land; the title of the show comes from the famous catchphrase used by his character, Clubber Lang.\n', ' Tureaud was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest son in a family with twelve children. His father, Nathaniel Tureaud, Sr., was a minister. Tureaud, with his four sisters and seven brothers, grew up in a three-room apartment in one of the city\'s housing projects, the Robert Taylor Homes, in a poorly constructed building, in an area with high levels of environmental pollutants and the largest concentration of poverty in America.[page needed] While growing up, Tureaud regularly witnessed murder, rape, and other crimes, but attributes his survival and later success to his will to do well and his mother\'s love. As to the adoption of his professional name, Mr. T., Tureaud stated that this decision was based upon his childhood impressions regarding the lack of respect from white people for his family:\n', '