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Mr. T. 400 Facts About the Baddest Dudes in the History of Ever. Without further ado, here's Greg Hengler. With a story Of Mr.
T. Mr. T is without a doubt one of the most recognizable pop culture curiosities of the 80s. Right up there with the Rubik's Cube, breakdancing, and Pac-Man. Bursting onto the scene as villainous boxer Clubber Lang in Rocky 3.
In which he ad-lipped his famous catchphrase. No, I don't hate Badboy, but I pity the fool, and I will destroy any man who tries to take what I got. What's your prediction for the fight man? Prediction? Yes, prediction.
Pain. He went Reagan era viral with the A-team. What you doing, sucker? What's going on here? This road leads directly to the airport.
Hannibal. This road is nowhere near the airport. The popular TV show launched the former Chicago nightclub bouncer to a surreal level of fame that spawned a Saturday morning cartoon. Action figures, and even a ridiculously sweet breakfast cereal.
Well, enough with the jibba-jabba. Here's Mr. T with his story. Starting with how he was discovered, how he got his name, and why the Mohawk. When I wasn't bodyguarding, I used to work at this disco in Chicago called Dean Bats.
I was sort of a bouncer, people used to say. And then the NDC had this contest called The Toughest Bouncer in America. Humbly, I won the contest. When I say humbly, I won it, even though it was called The Toughest Bouncer in America. I did not win that contest.
I won it two years in a row. I didn't win that contest because I was the roughest, the toughest, or the baddest. I won that contest again because the cause, C-A-U-S-E, the cause that I represented, was far more great than anybody else's cause. I told my pastor at my church, Cosmopolitan Community Church on the south side of Chicago, I said, Pastor Hardy, they are having a contest. And when I win, I'm going to give you the money so you can buy clothes and food for less fortunate people in the community.
So I won two years in a row. I gave a check both times to my church. And then they say that Sylvester Stallone was at home at the time watching the program. Then he saw me. I had my earrings and my tuxedo.
Each bouncer has a tuxedo. Then he saw me. He said, That guy is different and he can talk. Then they called me out. At first, they called me and they sent me a script.
Then that came out the Hollywood audition for the role. Had to beat out 1,500 black guys for the part. But I like to think that I got it because I freely gave the money. And everything I give, you know, it comes back to me, you know. And so I never look back.
You know, I think because I get so much, because I give so much. I don't give looking for nothing in return. I'm giving, thanking God for allowing me to be here. Thanking God. Sure, I'm tough and all that.
I'm tough because I conditioned my body to be tough. You know, and when I was nine years old, I got seven brothers and four sisters. We were on welfare, food stamps. I drew a picture when I was in school of a house and my mother. I showed it to my mother.
I said, Mama, one of these days, I'm going to be big and strong. I'm going to be a football player and a boxer. I'm going to buy you a beautiful house, mama, and I'm going to buy you pretty dresses. My mother was a maid. My mother used to.
Go in the suburbs and scrub white people's floors. She was not allowed to go in the front door, had to go in the back door. I'm not a racist, I'm telling you where I come from. But my mother never taught us hate. She said, Son, you do your best.
You work hard. If you want something, work hard, save your money, and get it.
So I told my mother, I said, I'm gonna do this here. Then I said, Mama, I'm gonna be a football player in the box. I'm gonna buy you a beautiful house. And then she hugged me and said, if that's the Lord's willing. It was and is the Lord's willingness.
Mr. T is the youngest son in a family of 12 children and grew up in Chicago's projects. Having been expelled from university after his first year, Mr. T enlisted in the U.S. Army, serving in the Military Police Corps where he excelled.
After his discharge, he tried to make it as a professional American football player, but failed to make the team due to a knee injury. In the 70s, he started working as a bouncer. during which time he created the Mr. T persona and started cladding himself in gold jewelry. Usually left behind by customers at the end of the night.
You know, like I tell people, crime and drugs was over me, under me, and around me. But crime and drugs was never in me. Why? I wasn't afraid to get a whooping, wasn't afraid to go to jail. I loved my mother too much.
You know, I'd rather die and burn in hell than to bring dishonor or disrespect to my mother. I'm nothing but a big, overgrown, tough, God-fearing, butt-kicking mama's boy.
So after I did Rocky, I saved all my money, bought my mother a house and pretty dresses.
Okay, back to how I got the name Mr. T. See, as I tell everybody, as a black man growing up in white society, I watched my father being called boy. My father is a minister. He preached the gospel.
He baptized when I was four years old. And I used to, you know, take the Bible up to the thing and open it and then he preached. Anyway, and I watched my father being disrespected called boy. I watched one of my brothers who was a Marine come back from Vietnam with his Marine uniform on and guys call him boy.
So I questioned the fact. What do a black man have to do before he's given the respect as a man?
So when I was 18 years old, old enough to fight and die for my country and be drafted, I said, I'm old enough to be called a man.
So when I became 18 years old, I self-ordained myself Mr. T. So the first word out of everybody's mouth would be Mr. That's a sign of respect. T because it just took my last name.
I was born Lawrence Turogue.
So that's why I changed my name to Mr. T. And I tell people, you know, I don't want to be disrespectful to the Mohegan Indians. Even though we call it a Mohawk, truthfully, it's called the Mandinka Cut, because there's a tribe in Africa called the Mandinka Warriors. In the west coast of Africa, the country of Mali, they wear their hair this way.
Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Mr. T retired his mass of gold chains because as he said, I told myself, no T, you can never wear your gold again. It's an insult to God. Mr. T substituted the chains with a Stars and Stripes bandana.
Here's why he dons this patriotic headgear. and what lever he pulls at the ballot box. I wear the stars and stripes because it's my way of paying the veterans back. It's my way of honoring the veterans. And I'm a veteran myself.
I was in the National Guard, military police. I got four brothers, one in the Marine, three in the Army. See, like if people joke me to say, who I vote for, I said, I voted for Jesus because you can't vote them in, can't vote them out. It's a politics. They're going to say one thing, all of them, black, white, whatever politic, my mother told me.
She said, son, where a man stand depends on where he sits.
So I've seen politicians come, vote for me this, I'll do that. Everybody's going to promise a good game. But in reality, they don't, you know.
So I'm going to stick with God with mother. When I was raised, when I was a little kid, mother told me to pray. And I've been praying ever since then. You know, it ain't failed me yet. I pray when they get me out the ghetto, prayed to be a good kid, prayed that I don't get involved in crime and all that stuff.
You know, I go to the hospital, mother asks me to pray for their children. They don't ask me because I'm a celebrity. They know because I believe in God. I serve God. It's not a funny act with me.
With God to try to impress somebody or fool somebody, like a lot of celebrities do. You catch them doing wrong, then they want to get the Bible and all that. I've been with the Bible, I've been taking food down to the homeless. Simply said, Mr. T is the real deal.
and a man of his word. And a terrific job on the production, editing, and storytelling by our own Greg Hengler. And you heard from Mr. T in his own voice. And who knew?
I didn't know. And I follow this stuff. And I'm always looking for those hidden faith stories that are out there that are pure gems. Faith playing such a central part of American life and often ignored completely by storytellers around the country, not here in our American stories. When faith is a part of your life, it's going to be in the story.
By the way, when it's not, it's not. But my goodness, he starts as a bouncer. And what does he do with his winnings from this bouncer contest national twice? He gives the money to his pastor. And my goodness, I love what Sylvester Stallone said because we just experienced it.
He said, that guy's different when he was listening to all the audition reels and he can talk. And my goodness. Can Mr. T talk, but what he talked about, just remarkable. Talking about his prayer life, how he prayed to get out of the ghetto, how he prayed just every step of the way.
The story of Mr. T. Here on Our American Stories. If you want all of your data in one place, if you want a single home for all of your entities. If you want to spend more time working and less time searching, you need the Intuit ERP.
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