Mr T profile: 'I don't chase the dollar' and a life away from the spotlight
""What did he study? “Philosophy and theology. A teacher in high school said, there’s no money in that, and I said: ‘Sir, that’s disrespectful. That’s insulting, because not everybody’s about money.’" he's one of us!
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò451the whole section of the write-up on Mr. T is pretty notable
jamelle413this is fascinating. the amateur criminologist in me zeroed in on this section. "they had no recourse." a great illustration of the fact that racist policing includes *refusing to police* and leaving the people impoverished neighborhoods to fend for themselves.
Nate O198Mr. T, forgive me, I did not know the degree of your willingness to stand in solidarity with others
Loukas Christodoulou153The unexamined life is not worth living - Socrates I pity the fool - Mr T
Kevin Reuning91I pity the fool that only values education in so far as it will earn you a specific wage.
Luigi de Guzman75The thing about Mr. T is that he seems like a genuinely thoughtful person. I particularly remember when he stopped wearing his gold chains after Hurricane Katrina because he felt it was wrong to flex so hard knowing there was so much suffering in the world
Kathleen E. Kennedy39It pleases me inordinately that Mr. T does, indeed, pity the fool.
Jay Jaffe37By the time I finished reading this profile, I pitied so many fools.
Aparna Nair22oh this is a wonderful read
Aaron Ross Powell18Something I occasionally think about is that America's young people will never fully comprehend just how big of a deal Mr. T was.
Yourqueerprof11This was a great read, even if you aren’t a Mr. T fan.
Stone Butch Blue Velvet9oh im stealing this one next time im too gay to show up at the appointed time we reconfirmed twice in text,
K. A. “Kîck Åß” Pillë9there is one and only choice to play him (and write and direct) in the biopic www.youtube.com/watch?v=50kr...
Robin James8The APA needs to get him and MC Hammer on a panel together
phyphor6I am no great fan of The Guardian but this is an incredible piece.
Ashley Rattner5This does not shock me since I primarily know Mr T from "Be Somebody or Be Somebody's Fool" (1984)
So why did Mr T take that name? Because white people would often call black men ‘Boy’, and so this way they’d have to accord him the respect of being a man. Extraordinary interview by @shattenstone.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Hetan Shah36‘The gold, he says, was his way of reclaiming history. Instead of wearing chains of steel, as his forefathers had, he’d wear chains of gold.’
tompoy.bsky.social4youtube.com/shorts/i98D4... only saw this quite recently but worth a watch
Iago from Shakespeare's Othello3A name is armor a man forges when the world refuses him a sword.
Andy2Love Mr T. Growing up in the 80s A Team was a favorite and would wait with my Mr T doll. I think I even got an inflatable Mr T punching bag for a birthday.
All Amort2There's an interesting account of the events that led to his expulsion from Prairie View A&M university in 1971 here: pvpantherproject.com/2023/02/sile... Wonder what life he'd have had if that hadn't happened?
Michael Planey1I often wondered if he had taken his name from “In the Heat of the Night” when Sidney Poitier said the memorable line “They call me Mister Tibbs!”
A note to publicists: Maybe hold back from saying how much your client loves what they're promoting unless you're absolutely sure. Meet the fabulous Mr T www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Mike14His autobiography is a great read. Also very clearly not ghost written www.goodreads.com/en/book/show...
Steve Reynolds10It's such a good interview, and now I won't be watching the netflix show because it's upset Mr T.
randomname99.bsky.social8I loved Mr T as a kid. This interview gave a fascinating insight into the man. Brilliant work Simon, thank you
Blue Sand: The Abstract Truth2Hardcore: T: Revenge on the guys [who were mugging women] went against my God’s teaching…. But…[s]omebody got to pay. Case closed. There’s nothing else to talk about. We’re going on to the next thing.” I: Did the guys live to tell the tale? T: We going on to the next thing. [Silence]
Linkara159People have asked me if I was going to watch the doc... which I wasn't because screw Netflix, but now I'm REALLY not going to watch it. XD God bless Mr. T.
John Bull71this is a helluvah read.
Chris Schilling34This is a *fantastic* interview.
John Hatch33This is one of the most incredible interviews with a celebrity that I've ever read.
Megan Fox26Damn, this is a good read. The documentary itself sounds trashy so probably skip, but damn. What a cool guy.
hammancheez12A dude who now and forever takes no shit off nobody
waltydunlop10Tremendous interview, this. Several hours in which no fool is left unpitied, or a breath taken. Remarkable.
Rev. Deral "FreeLink" Fenderson6Wow. Great interview with an incredibly interesting and genuine human being. (Freaked was a great movie)
Marianne Dhenin6a great read tbh, a joy
Original Chungus6This interview text includes a maybe unintentional reference to star magic jackson jr from the key and peele gremlins 2 sketch and for that alone isn't deserves a major award
‘I don’t chase the dollar. I never did’: the astonishing hidden life of Mr T www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Gareth Clarke20Really enjoyed reading that, and happy to see he sounds as if he's the kind of person I always hoped he'd be. I pity the Netflix.
Old Hobbit🐸4Glad to see that some childhood heroes remain untainted!
Matthew 🦖3It's a shame that he seems to have been poorly treated by Netflix. He's a great guy.
Mark Freedman1Great stuff. Seems like one of the good guys.
T.K.25[Chorus] No fools, no suckas Be good to your mother No dummies, no punks I pity every last one One, one, one
Đ⟁🏳️4Did I meet him? Yes 🤚 and still remember the handshake 🤝 Mr T.
eke3it does seem like a lot of replies are in the vein of 'wow this is such a sweet interview' while my takeaway was more 'wow he seems to have spent 30 minutes furiously yelling about how much he hates the documentary he is supposed to be promoting'
Novocastrum3Great article and interview with the legend Mr T bsky.app/profile/elio...
Duncan Gill25-year-old me went to get his tonsils out wearing a Mr T. face-mask and plastic gold chains cos Mr T. wouldn’t be scared of no operation. And I drank my milk ‘cos he said so.
This is a long read - longer than usual for a Graun profile - and I can only assume they let it run on because Mr T is f***ing magnificent interview talent, and because Simon Hattenstone does such a bang-up job. Just wonderful, 💯 recommend. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
Degenerate artist2Always liked Mr.T, he's using his powers for good. And I always watch his song on Mothers Day. youtu.be/RO6JiFztJdg?...
Adrian Cutts1Just wait until you see the Mr T WWE Hall of Fame induction from 2014: in New Orleans no less. 20 minutes of Mr T at his best. youtu.be/06diOh-s7N0...
Good Work Dept.1What does Mr T do that makes the interview sustain a long read—specificity, candour, or willingness to follow a tangent? That’s a useful lens for judging interview craft, not just celebrity.
Joey Perroni1Great stuff. I read all his quotes in a Mr T voice in my head.
If you are around my age (48) you know how ubiquitous Mr T was in the 80s. I’m not sure there is a comparable pop-culture figure today. Some fascinating stuff in this interview, especially how he shaped his persona and his religious faith.
John Herreid7I remember Mr. T action figures, posters, cereal, books, the cartoon, the A-Team, Rocky, his presence in PSAs about staying away from drugs and promoting literacy, etc. In the late 90s and early 2000s people treated him like a punchline but in the 80s he was huge.
Hester Pangs3my aunt's husband was a bouncer in college and used to work with him!
Thomas Jerome2He was quite possibly the most wholesome account on Twitter, I miss seeing him there
"I legally changed my name to Mr T later on, so the first word out of everyone’s mouth would be Mr."
MisterJayEm4As MrsJM observed, the parallels between the lives, values and fashion of Mr T and Dolly Parton are remarkable.
Punk Curmudgeon2Very interesting article. Ali became my hero because he stood up during the Vietnam war and said: ‘I have no quarrel with the Viet Cong, they never called me nigger, so why are we fighting the Viet Cong?’”
