LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Mr. T, the tough-guy actor with the Mohican haircut who is best known for his role as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series ``The A-Team,'' has cancer and is almost broke, he said in a television interview.

The 45-year-old actor, whose real name is Lawrence Tero, told the syndicated ``Entertainment Tonight'' show in an interview to be aired later Tuesday that he had a form of lymphoma. He was receiving daily radiation treatments and injections at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

``I try to be upbeat. When people watch this (show) I want them to be uplifted,'' said Tero, adding: ``Love, love, love. I can't help but get better. This is what gives me the strength to go to the hospital.''

Tero, who also starred as Clubber Lang, Sylvester Stallone's adversary in ``Rocky III,'' in 1982, said the hardest part about having cancer was ``telling my mom.''

His disclosure came on the same day that singer-songwriter Carly Simon told the New York Daily News she was suffering from breast cancer.

Although he was a household name in the 1980s, his career faded with the end of ``The A-Team'' in 1987 after four seasons on the air. A syndicated follow-up, ``T. and T.,'' lasted just one season, ending in 1989.

He actor said he was now almost broke, adding, ``I've probably got $200 in the bank.''

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Philip C. Robinson