Mr. T is a name that evokes nostalgia for many people who grew up in the 1980s and 1990s. He is best known for his roles as B.A. Baracus in the hit TV show The A-Team and as Clubber Lang in the movie Rocky III. He is also famous for his distinctive hairstyle, gold jewelry, tough-guy persona, and catchphrase “I pity the fool!”
But how much is Mr. T worth today? And how did he earn his fortune? In this article, we will explore the life and career of Mr. T, and reveal his surprising net worth in 2023.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Mr. T was born as Laurence Tureaud on May 21, 1952, in Chicago, Illinois. He was the youngest of 12 children in a poor family that lived in a three-room apartment. His father, Nathaniel Tureaud, was a minister who left the family when Mr. T was five years old.
Mr. T attended Dunbar Vocational High School, where he excelled in sports, especially football, wrestling, and martial arts. He won the city wrestling championship three times and earned a football scholarship to Prairie View A&M University in Texas, where he studied mathematics for a year before being expelled.
He then joined the U.S. Army and served in the Military Police Corps, where he became the top trainee in his class. After leaving the army, he tried out for the Green Bay Packers but failed to make the team due to a knee injury.
He then worked as a nightclub bouncer and bodyguard in Chicago, where he developed his Mr. T persona and style. He wore gold chains that he collected from lost or confiscated jewelry at the club, and adopted a Mohawk-like hairstyle inspired by a Mandinka warrior he saw in a National Geographic magazine.
He also legally changed his name to Mr. T to demand respect from others, as he explained in an interview with Huffington Post:
I changed my name because as a black man growing up in white society, I watched my father being called “boy,” and he was a preacher. I watched my brother coming back from the Marines and Vietnam and being called “boy.” I watched enough black men in my family being called “boy,” so I point to the fact: What does a black man have to do to get his respect as a man?
As a bodyguard, Mr. T protected many celebrities, such as Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, and Leon Spinks. He charged up to $10,000 per day for his services.
Breakthrough as an Actor and Wrestler
Mr. T’s breakthrough came when he participated in a televised tough-man competition called “America’s Toughest Bouncer” on NBC’s Sunday Games in 1980. He won the contest twice and caught the attention of Sylvester Stallone, who cast him as Clubber Lang, the main antagonist of Rocky III.
The movie was a huge success and made Mr. T a star overnight. His performance as Clubber Lang also earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best New Star of the Year.
Mr. T then landed another iconic role as B.A. Baracus, the muscle of The A-Team, a popular action-adventure TV series that ran from 1983 to 1987. He played alongside George Peppard, Dirk Benedict, and Dwight Schultz as a group of former Special Forces soldiers who worked as mercenaries for hire.
Mr. T also ventured into professional wrestling in the mid-1980s, partnering with Hulk Hogan at the first WrestleMania event in 1985. He also had a boxing match with Rowdy Roddy Piper at WrestleMania 2 in 1986.
He later appeared as himself in various TV shows and movies, such as Diff’rent Strokes, Silver Spoons, The Simpsons, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and The Hangover Part III.
He also released two rap albums: Mr. T’s Commandments in 1984 and Be Somebody… or Be Somebody’s Fool! in 1985.
Personal Life and Net Worth
Mr. T has been married twice and has three children: Lesa (born 1973), Laurence Jr. (born 1984), and Erika (born 1986). He divorced his first wife Phillys Clark in 1991 after 15 years of marriage.
He married his second wife Alicia Clark in 2005.
Mr. T is a devout Christian who has been involved in various charitable causes over the years. He has donated money and time to organizations such as Shriners Hospitals for Children, Make-A-Wish Foundation, American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, and Starlight Children’s Foundation.
He has also been vocal about his battle with cancer, which he was diagnosed with in 1995. He underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments and has been in remission since 2001.
He has also overcome other health issues, such as a pituitary tumor that caused his body to produce too much growth hormone, and a rare form of pneumonia that put him in a coma for three days in 2014.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Mr. T’s net worth in 2023 is estimated at $1.5 million. This is a significant decrease from his peak net worth of $15 million in the late 1980s, when he was earning up to $80,000 per episode of The A-Team.
The main reasons for his decline in wealth are his divorce settlements, his medical expenses, his tax problems, and his reduced income from acting and wrestling.
However, Mr. T has maintained a positive attitude and a grateful spirit throughout his life. He once said:
I thank God for all my struggles because without it I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.
