Iconic Mr. T character BA Baracus is known the world over for his super bad attitude (and morbid fear of flying) on screen. Nibbles on Peppard’s cigars, Hannibal Smith was smoother, if not less alpha. While the show about a team of falsely accused Vietnam veterans seeking to clear their names became a global crush, behind the scenes, the two stars clashed repeatedly, once refusing to speak to each other for four months.
The two men arrived on the show from two completely different backgrounds, personally and professionally. Peppard was raised from the middle class as the son of a construction contractor and opera singer. Mr. T was the youngest of 12 children raised in community housing on Chicago’s South Side.
Peppard was a Hollywood pioneer on the big screen, most famously in the 1961 movie Breakfast at Tiffany’s, opposite Audrey Hepburn. He was already 55 years old when he began broadcasting the A-Team in the US in 1983 but his career was in decline.
Mr. T, the real name of Lawrence Torriod, was at the time an even bigger star. He starred as a clubber Lang in Rocky III, but his main claim to fame was as a WWE wrestler, working frequently with Hulk Hogan.
Their co-star Dwight Schultz, who played Captain “Howling Mad” Murdock, suggested that part of the problem was Peppard’s anger that Mr. T was actually the biggest attraction at the time.
He said, “I think it created a lot of problems and tensions… I don’t think George accepted the fact that T was the star of the show.”
Towards the end of the short-lived show, Peppard went on Terry Wogan’s chat show on March 3, 1987. The mischievous host was intent on finding some juicy details about the much-rumored feud and his guest happily obliged.
Peppard said: “Well, the show is playing here in England, I don’t want to say anything to make it any less interesting for the audience. We had some difficulty, because Mr. T got into a fight with the producers and executive producers and he wanted some of the crew fired.”
Peppard revealed that Mr. T almost made his way to get in.
He added, “Well you know, nobody likes to rock the boat on TV, and Steven Cannell, co-owner and co-author of the series, was ready to replace three people. We were all in a boat in Mexican waters and when we got back they told me about it and I heard about it.”
This time in a star power struggle, Peppard won (according to his own story).
Pepperard said, “Huh [Mr T] I refused to shoot, and I went into Mr. Cannell’s office and said, “If you have a list of six, you can put George Peppard’s name at number seven, if you’re going to shoot them.”
“He chose not to do it and it was the right thing to do because, as you know and as we all know, the power of stardom is really a load of bullshit – and it needs to be handled properly and as a co-worker.
“It bothered me. I haven’t spoken to him for 16 weeks.”
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