{"id":52412,"date":"2026-08-27T13:09:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=52412"},"modified":"2026-08-27T13:12:06","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T17:12:06","slug":"mr-t-reveals-the-untold-story-behind-his-rise-to-fame-in-new-netflix-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/08\/mr-t-reveals-the-untold-story-behind-his-rise-to-fame-in-new-netflix-documentary.html","title":{"rendered":"Mr. T Reveals the Untold Story Behind His Rise to Fame in New Netflix Documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_52415\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-52415\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/08\/I-Pity-the-Fool_credit-Netflix-YouTube.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-52415\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/87\/2026\/08\/I-Pity-the-Fool_credit-Netflix-YouTube.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-52415\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Netflix \/ YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mr. T may be remembered for his mohawk, gold chains and famous \u201cI pity the fool\u201d catchphrase, but a new Netflix documentary promises to show viewers the man \u2014 and the faith \u2014 behind the larger-than-life image.<\/p>\n<p>Netflix has released the official trailer for <em>Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool<\/em>, premiering Sept. 8. The documentary traces Laurence Tureaud\u2019s unlikely journey from Chicago\u2019s South Side to becoming one of the most recognizable stars of the 1980s.<\/p>\n<p>And according to Mr. T, audiences may not know the whole story.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Txk5C-452ak?si=TizU7iO2gMqhazr2\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m not just some phony fake celebrity or fictitious hero. I\u2019m real life,\u201d he says in the trailer. \u201cI was not born Mr. T. People don\u2019t know the road I had to travel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Tureaud grew up as the youngest of 12 children in a three-bedroom home in Chicago\u2019s Robert Taylor Homes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou gotta be tough in the hood,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n<p>Even his famous name has a deeper meaning. After watching his father and later his brother, a Vietnam veteran, be addressed as \u201cboy,\u201d Tureaud adopted \u201cMr. T\u201d so people would address him with a title of respect.<\/p>\n<p>His road to Hollywood took a major turn when Sylvester Stallone spotted him competing as a bouncer on NBC\u2019s Games People Play. Stallone cast him as Clubber Lang in 1982\u2019s Rocky III, introducing Mr. T \u2014 and \u201cI pity the fool\u201d \u2014 to audiences around the world.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMan, what an honor,\u201d Mr. T says while recalling the moment he learned he had landed the role.<\/p>\n<p>A year later, he became B.A. Baracus on The A-Team, cementing his place as a pop culture icon.<\/p>\n<p>But the documentary also highlights another important part of Mr. T\u2019s life: his Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>One of the trailer\u2019s most notable moments shows him reciting Joshua 1:9: \u201cHave I not commanded thee to be strong \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It offers a glimpse into a side of Mr. T that has become increasingly visible in recent years. He has regularly shared Scripture and Christian messages on social media and spoken publicly about his reliance on God.<\/p>\n<p>Directed by Scott Weintrob, Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool combines archival footage with new reflections, including commentary from actor Terry Crews, to explore the experiences that shaped the man behind the famous persona.<\/p>\n<p>For fans who remember Clubber Lang and B.A. Baracus, there is plenty of nostalgia. But the documentary may offer something more compelling: a closer look at the struggles, convictions and faith behind the mohawk.<\/p>\n<p><em>Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool<\/em> premieres Sept. 8 on Netflix.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mr. T may be remembered for his mohawk, gold chains and famous \u201cI pity the fool\u201d catchphrase, but a new Netflix documentary promises to show viewers the man \u2014 and the faith \u2014 behind the larger-than-life image. Netflix has released the official trailer for Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool, premiering Sept. 8. The&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":462,"featured_media":52415,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mr. T Reveals the Untold Story Behind His Rise to Fame in New Netflix Documentary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"&quot;I Pitty the Fool&quot; traces his unlikely journey from Chicago\u2019s South Side to \u201980s stardom while revealing the man behind the icon.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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