Where Did Mr T’s Iconic Quote “I Pity The Fool” Come From?

If there are four words that define the 1980s for so many people, they would be “I pity the fool!”.

First coined by Mr T’s merciless boxing champion Clubber Lang during an interview before their big rematch in the 1982 blockbuster film Rocky III, those four simple words launched the bouncer and bodyguard-turned-actor into a megastar.

However, before it and many variations of it started to appear on countless pop culture t-shirts, “I pity the fool” had already been said, and not by Mr T himself.

In 1961, a bluesy soul song called I Pity The Fool was released by Bobby Blue Bland, a huge innovator alongside B.B. King on Memphis’ Beale Street scene. The song reached number one on the Billboard R&B charts and even peaked at number 46 on the Hot 100.

This may have been a coincidence, however, as it was never confirmed whether Mr T or the writer of Rocky III, director and star Sylvester Stallone, heard the song before the film came out.

Stallone coined the phrase but was actually inspired by another interview Mr T had given on the show Games People Play, which was hosting an America’s Toughest Bouncer competition.

During the final contest, a boxing match between Mr T and a Hawaiian boxer by the name of Tutefano Tufi that he would win, Mr T said to commentator Bryant Gumbel that he felt sorry for the man he had to box, before knocking him out in 54 seconds.

This show is where Stallone spotted Mr T and wanted to add him and his charismatic persona to Rocky III. Whilst originally a relatively minor role with a few lines, it was quickly expanded until he became the Clubber Lang we know, love and fear to be across the ring from.

He became a huge star as a result of the film, taking “I pity the fool” as a catchphrase and becoming a huge cultural touchstone throughout the 1980s.