Mr T has been rejected from jury duty, even though he wore his signature mohawk and is Mr T.

Mr T, also known as BA Baracus and Clubber Lang but never by his surprisingly prissy real name, Lawrence Tureaud, was called for jury selection in Chicago. To emphasise that he was no longer wanted by the government for escaping a maximum security prison to which he'd been sent for a crime he didn't commit, he wore an FBI jumper and an FBI hat.

"I ain't gettin' on no jury."

Mr T put up with jibba jabba from several fools outside the courthouse, posing for photos and signing autographs but refusing to let any of them drive his van.

He also told reporters, "I pity the criminals today", which may have cost him his place on the jury. Either way, he was not selected.

To tide us over until Mr T blasts through the courthouse walls in a tank he made from a lawnmower, spray cans, a station wagon and some fireworks while locked in a garage, here are eight things you never knew about Mr T:

1. When Mr T was a soldier at training camp in 1976 his platoon sergeant punished him by telling him to chop down trees, but didn't say how many. Mr T chopped down over seventy before a shocked major found him and told him to stop.

2. Mr T started wearing gold chains working as a nightclub bouncer. The chains belonged to customers who'd lost them in fights and been thrown out of the club. By wearing them on the door, Mr T was able to return the chains without letting banned patrons back inside the venue.

3. While working as a bodyguard, Mr T protected sixteen prostitutes, five preachers, eight bankers, five models, seven judges, three politicians, Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson and Diana Ross.

4. Mr T received an anonymous letter asking him to assasinate someone. A man "offered me $75,000 to kill his friend. The last envelope and letter contained a round-trip airline ticket, first class, United. Plus there was $5,000 wrapped in a little package, fifty and hundred dollar bills." Mr T says he declined.

5. Before he got rid of his jewellery, Mr T spent over an hour every night buffing it with an ultrasonic cleaner.

6. Mr T released a motivational video for kids called Be Somebody... or Be Somebody's Fool! which contained raps written by Ice-T. The video included advice on how to make tripping up look like breakdancing and the song Treat Your Mother Right (Treat Her Right), in which Mr T set out the reasons why it's important to treat your mother right.

7. In 1987 Mr T angered residents of his Chicago suburb by cutting down more than a hundred oak trees on his estate. The incident is known locally as 'The Lake Forest Chainsaw Massacre'. It seems likely he was suffering flashbacks to his army days.

8. This happened:

Mr T and Nancy Reagan