Mr. T

“I pity the fool!” So went the famous words of Clubber Lang, the mohawked, gold-laden tough guy played by Mr. T (born Lawrence Tureaud) on the hit 1980s TV show The A Team. But in 1995, this tough guy took on one of the biggest challenges of his life: T-cell lymphoma. “Can you imagine that?” Mr. T later joked to Coping With Cancer magazine. “Cancer with my name on it—personalized cancer.” He endured several rounds of chemo and radiation before the cancer, which caused sores all over his body, was under control. These days, triumphant survivor Mr. T, 65, has competed on Dancing With the Stars and has continued to use his celebrity to raise money for children’s health centers like St. Jude’s.