Mr. T (Lawrence Tureaud) and His Mother

Lawrence Tureaud, Lawrence Tureaud Mother, Lawrence Tureaud Mom, Mr T Mom, Mr T Mother, Mr. T Mother, Mr T Dancing With The Stars

(ABC/Eric McCandless)

Mr. T was born Laurence Tureaud on May 21, 1952 and he was the second youngest in his family, out of twelve children. He lived in the housing projects, the Robert Taylor Homes in the south side of Chicago and his father, Nathaniel Tureaud, left the family when Mr. T was just 5 years old. His mother ended up raising the family on $87 a month welfare in a three-room apartment, according to IMDb. Mr. T’s mom was a religious woman, who had great influence on her son. Mr. T has said:

Any man who don’t love his momma can’t be no friend of mine.

In fact, Mr. T even came out with his own rap song called “Treat Your Mother Right,” which was dedicated to his mom. Some lyrics to the song read,

“Mother
There is no other
Like Mother
So treat Her right
Mother
I always Love Her
My Mother
So treat Her right, treat Her right.”

Check out the music video for the song below.

Throughout his childhood, Mr. T tried to be a good kid and stay out of trouble so that he wouldn’t disappoint his mother.

When Mr. T was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2014, he dedicated his speech to the woman who raised him. He spoke fondly of her, saying:

I believe that mothers are one of God’s greatest creations. My motha, your motha, all mothas … thank God for mothas … I wanted my motha to know that I love her every day. Not just on her birthday, not just on Mother’s Day, not just on Valentine’s Day, not just on Christmas Day, but I loved her on President’s Day. On Election Day. On Labor day. Independence Day. Columbus Day. Earth Day. Memorial Day. Flag Day. Groundhogs Day. April Fools’ Day. New Year’s Day. St. Patrick’s Day. And yes, even on Father’s Day – I loved my MOTHA!

On tonight’s episode of Dancing With the Stars, the contestants dedicate their performances to their Most Memorable Year. With pro partner Kym Herjavec, Mr. T will perform the Waltz to “Amazing Grace” by Ray Chew Live on the show tonight.