He
is 5'11" tall, and weighs somewhere between 216 and 237 pounds. He
wears a most unusual "Mohawk" hairs
tyle. His gold jewelry is real,
and is worth around $300,000. We all know him as Mr. T, the toughest
guy on the planet. Here is his story.
WARMING
UP FOR THE BIG RING the young Lawrence Mr. T was born Lawrence Tureaud,
on May 21, 1952, in the rough southside ghetto area of Chicago. Lawrence
was the second to youngest of twelve children (he has four sisters
and seven brothers). His father left when he was 5, and his mother
raised the family on $87 a month welfare in a three-room apartment.
Mr. T's brothers encouraged him to build up his body in order to survive
in the area. He has often commented, "If you think I'm big, you should
see my brothers!" His mother is a religious woman, and she had a strong
influence on him. He says, "Any man who don't love his momma can't
be no friend of mine."
He
was an average student in school. "Most of the time", he says, "I
stared out the windows, just daydreaming. I didn't study much because
I have a photographic memory". Apart from one spell between 5th and
7th grades when he went a little astray - playing hookey, cursing,
acting tough, being disrespectful - he was a well-behaved child. (He
worried about how his mother would feel if he ended up in jail, and
stayed out of trouble for that reason!) He attended Dunbar Vocational
High School. He was a college football star, studied martial arts,
and was three times city wrestling champion. He won a scholarship
to Prairie View A&M University in Texas, but was thrown out after
a year. He finished schooling in small colleges in Chicago, then became
a military policeman in the US Army.
After
he left the army, he became a 'minder' (bodyguard), and remained in
that profession for about nine years. He worked for such celebrities
as Muhammed Ali, Michael Jackson, Dianna Ross, Steve McQueen and Le
Var Burton. He charged about $3,000 a day (mostly for 'special' jobs)
and his business card read, "Next to God, there is no better protector
than I". He believed in having a very professional attitude toward
the job, preventing trouble from even starting rather than having
to sort it out once it had. "I was a very dapper dresser," he recalls.
"I shaved my head, wore derby hats, white gloves, 3-piece suits, carried
a cane. I never went any place without a fresh carnation or a rosebud
in my lapel."
Dimensions
approx: 100mm L x 88mm W x 100mm H
Colours: as shown.
Material: PVC rubber, non toxic.
Packaging: Each Celebriduck comes in a clear gift box with hang tag.
...We produce our Celebriducks in limited editions and make changes
as we release each new edition. All first editions done before the
year 2000 were done in editions of 5000 and a number of them are
getting close to being sold out. The early first editions are a
bit larger and a little more firm, but subsequent editions after
the year 2000 reflect a duck which now squeaks, is a little smaller
and softer, has all new packaging, and floats as well or better
than any duckie on the market.
Celebriducks is a registered trademark & licensed product.
Any reproduction or infringement will result in litigation. All
items are licensed. Celebrity ducks cannot be imprinted without
authorisation of the licensor.
