• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, 4 hours ago

An upcoming documentary about Mr. T is really a story about marketing -- namely, how a man raised on welfare in one of Chicago’s roughest neighborhoods came up with a brand name and image for himself that made him world famous.

In the 45-minute documentary -- titled “Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool” and premiering Sept. 8 on Netflix -- Mr. T is seen telling the origin story of his name on a long-ago episode of NBC’s “Late Night With David Letterman.”

The “T” comes from the name he was born with, Laurence Tureaud. But it is the “Mr.” that is more significant for him.

Mr. T told Letterman he never forgot the way white people called his father and one of his brothers “boy” -- even after the brother returned home from fighting in Vietnam.

Mr. T said he felt that if his first name was “Mr.” (he legally changed his name to “Mr. T” in 1970 at age 18), people would be forced to address him that way -- as “Mr.”

He then worked on the outward aspects of the Mr. T brand. When he worked security at a Chicago nightclub (otherwise known as a “bouncer”), he wore suits he could not then afford in order to project an image of success.

He also never laughed and rarely, if ever, smiled as he sought to create an image for himself as tough, focused and, perhaps, a little mysterious,

The story of how he became famous is well-known. In the documentary, Sylvester Stallone is seen on a talk show from the 1980s telling the story of how he came to be aware of Mr. T.

Stallone happened to see an NBC competition show called “Games People Play” in 1980 in which Mr. T competed with other nightclub bouncers and won. Eventually, Stallone cast him in “Rocky III” and he was on his way.

It was in that movie that Mr. T first uttered the words that became his life-long catchphrase and part of the title of this Netflix documentary: “I pity the fool.”

After “Rocky III,” Mr. T gained even greater fame as the star of the 1983-87 NBC action series “The A-Team” (photo above).

The TV show cemented his image as a real-life superhero. It was an image he steadfastly maintained as he remained “in character” in public appearances he made around the world at the height of his fame, including talk-show appearances, guest shots on TV shows and a famous visit he made to the Reagan White House.

He also became a merchandising phenomenon. Suddenly, his name and likeness were on hundreds of items -- from breakfast cereal to a car air freshener that hung from the rearview mirror.

Memory Lane alert: I once had a Mr. T transistor radio that was shaped around the contour of a photo decal on the front of it of Mr. T, in character from “The A-Team,” flexing the biceps of both arms.

Mr. T, now 74, is in much of the documentary looking back at his meteoric rise, and the life he leads today. 

When he mentions in passing that he appeared in TV commercials, lightning-fast snippets are shown of commercials he did for Snickers (with the tagline “Get some nuts!”), Aim toothpaste and 1-800-COLLECT.

His career in commercials encompasses more than those, going back decades -- including MCI, Comcast, Radio Shack, Atari, Hitachi and Burger King.

More recently, he appeared in a Skechers spot with Tony Romo that aired during the Super Bowl in 2024.

In 2021, he appeared in a spot with Ice-T and Stone Cold Steve Austin for Tide detergent.

The director of “Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool” happens to be a director of TV commercials (and movies) -- Scott Weintrob of Studio Large Eyes.

The firm’s website lists a number of high-profile brands that Weintrob has worked with such as Pepsi, Wells Fargo, Ford, Michelin and more than a dozen others including a brand tailor-made for Mr. T, T-Mobile.