Whatever Happened To The Cast Of The A-Team?

Before the 2010 reboot film that starred mega-babe Bradley Cooper and consistent badass Liam Neeson, there was the original The A-Team television series. From 1983 to 1987, the NBC show graced American screens with guns-a-blazing action, a stick-to-it episode formula that proved to really work, and a cast of characters fans instantly fell in love with. Roll it all together and toss in some memorable catchphrases ("I love it when a plan comes together"), and it's no wonder The A-Team saw stellar ratings and gained a cult following in syndication.

But whatever happened to the cast that made the show shine so brightly? Let's get reacquainted with these '80s acting icons and see what they're up to now.

As one of the A-Team's A-listers, actor George Peppard played Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith with a lovable fierceness and a fat cigar permanently wedged between his teeth. The team leader of the renegade squad, Hannibal often embodied new personas and aliases, even donning a few disguises, but never went without his signature black leather gloves and smirky smile. When The A-Team wrapped in 1987, Peppard continued acting, popping up in the TV movies Man Against the Mob and Man Against the Mob: The Chinatown Murders as Frank Doakey. He even appeared on stage as Ernest Hemingway in the 1988 play Papa. Peppard also appeared as another colonel—Col. Harry Martineau/Max Vogel, that is—in the made-for-television film Night of the Fox in 1990.

Much like his A-Team counterpart, Peppard was a smoker, a habit that led to his lung cancer diagnosis in 1992. Sadly, he passed away just two years later, at the age of 65, after contracting pneumonia. Just before his death, however, Peppard finished filming the pilot episode for a would-have-been Matlock spin-off series, The P.I. In the 2010 A-Team remake film, Liam Neeson steps into the late actor's shoes to take on the role of Hannibal. We think Peppard would've approved.

Dwight Schultz catapulted into mainstream fame in his role as Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock. Since then, he's appeared in a few television series, most notably Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager as Lieutenant Reginald "Reg" Barclay. Schultz also dabbled in film post-A-Team, landing parts in 1989's Fat Man and Little Boy and 1996's Star Trek: First Contact. The guy even showed up for a post-credits scene in Joe Carnahan's A-Team film.

From the late '90s onward, Schultz found his groove in voice-over work for television and video games. You may even recognize a few of Howling Mad's vocal inflections in titles like Fallout 4, Final Fantasy XIII, Yakuza, Wolfenstein: The New Order, and the Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy. As for his personal life, the man known for his on-screen madness settled down with a wife and a child before The A-Team filming ended. More recently, Schultz was the host of the (now-defunct) conservative podcast "Howling Mad Radio," and he regularly appears on political talk shows, all while keeping his fans up-to-date with conservative commentaries over on his fansite.

We pity the fool who tries to challenge Bosco Albert "B. A." Baracus. Not only does B.A. stand for "Bad Attitude," it also apparently stands for "Bad Ass," as the actor who played the rough-and-tumble A-Team sergeant has led an exciting life in the past 30 years. During and after production of The A-Team, Mr. T dove into a bit of voice acting, appeared on other mega-popular shows like Diff'rent Strokes, and even took a stab at professional wrestling, a move that paid off as his "combat" career lasted until 2001.

Unfortunately, in 1995, Mr. T was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoma, but that hasn't stopped him from acting. In the years after The A-Team, Mr. T has specialized in playing himself, a fact due almost entirely to his big personality and marketable presence. Nowadays, the dude once known for his tough attitude can be seen in commercials for World of Warcraft, Comcast, and (as pictured above) Snickers. While Mr. T himself has mentioned he no longer rocks his signature stacked gold chains, he's kept the B.A. Baracus mohawk and thick beard—a lasting reminder of his time on one of the world's best teams.

Seasoned actor Dirk Benedict stepped into the slick, smooth-talking role of Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck in 1983. Adored for his slightly conniving attitude, fine-tuned skills in escaping precarious situations (usually without explanation or so much as a scratch on his clean-cut face), and ability to charm anyone into giving him what he needs, Benedict's Faceman offered him a pathway to further success after the show's cancellation. He went the theater route that same year in an adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, then returned to the screen for movies like Shadow Force and Alaska. Benedict even made his directorial and screenwriting debut in 2001 with the drama film Cahoots.

After pinballing between one-off TV spots, a foreign film, two books (Confessions of a Kamikaze Cowboy and And Then We Went Fishing), and a handful of made-for-the-small-screen flicks, Benedict found himself on the 2007 season of the British reality show Celebrity Big Brother. In the decade since, not much has been seen of Benedict, though he did make a cameo in The A-Team film in 2010. Unfortunately, Benedict wasn't exactly happy with the movie as his role only lasted a few seconds. Of course, it's probably safe to say that most people weren't happy with the film.

Moving past the main men, Melinda Culea played Amy Amanda Allen, the journalist/reporter who never let anything shake her confidence—well, not at first anyway. Though Culea's run as "Triple A" was relatively short-lived (some claim the leading men ganged up on her, some say she asked for too much money, while others said she unhappy in the role), the actress maintained steady work in the years following. Culea's resume touts a starring role as Terry Randolph in Glitter and a recurring one in Knots Landing as Paul Vertosick. She showed off her acting chops in classic programs like St. Elsewhere, The X-Files, and Murder, She Wrote, and even appeared alongside fellow A-Team star Dwight Schultz in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Unfortunately, things started to slow down around the turn of the century. Culea's last appearance was in the 2001 film Dying on the Edge. Though it seems she's given up acting altogether, Culea has found success in the literary world. She released her first novel, an illustrated mystery entitled Wondago, in 2016 with Griffith Moon Publishing.

While Lance LeGault found substantial stardom prior to The A-Team, his time as Roderick Decker earned him a gold star with audiences around the world. And after his work as the show's gun-wielding colonel was done, LeGault wasn't quite ready to stop showing off his stone face and gravelly voice. So it makes total sense that he would show up as yet another colonel in Magnum, P.I. LeGault then appeared in various television series in the late '80s and '90s, most notably in Dallas, Battlestar Galactica, MacGyver, and Crusade. In his later years, LeGault returned to his '60s and '70s roots as he made the transition back to film. He played a part in 1997's Mortal Kombat: Annihilation and voiced a character in the animated Disney film Home on the Range. Sadly, LeGault passed away in 2012, although he posthumously appeared alongside Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch in the 2013 comedy-drama film Prince Avalanche, a movie that's dedicated to the actor's memory.

Though fans only got to feast their eyes on cool-guy army officer Captain Crane for a handful of episodes, the actor behind the role has continued working in the film and television industry for far longer than his two-year stint on The A-Team. While he stayed in the limelight by appearing in small roles on shows like Roseanne, ALF, and Steel Magnolias, Carl Franklin discovered his true passion behind the camera. Post-A-Team, Franklin has been the directorial brain of projects like Devil in a Blue Dress, High Crimes, and Bless Me, Ultima. He's also flexed his writing muscles a few times, particularly with the 1990 film Last Stand at Lang Mei. But out of all his many endeavors, Franklin has received the most accolades for his TV directing, a foray that has really taken off in the last few years. While Franklin has done some great single-episode work on shows like The Pacific, Homeland, and Bloodline, he did settle into one streaming show quite comfortably. As it turns out, he directed four episodes of Netflix's House of Cards. In fact, one of Franklin's episodes (the season two premiere, "Chapter 14") nabbed the director an Emmy nomination, making him one of the most successful members of The A-Team.

True, special effects expert Frankie Santana was blackmailed into joining the A-Team, but that doesn't mean actor Eddie Velez was feeling down in the dumps about his role in the show. In fact, the actor shone pretty brightly among the other A-Team stars. Fortunately, when the series was pulled by NBC, Velez found a handful of roles that kept both the paychecks and the spotlight steady. The actor starred in 12 episodes of True Blue as Frankie Avila, moved to Live Shot in 1995 to portray Ricardo Sandoval, then cozied up in the soapiest of daytime operas, Days of Our Lives. Playing the part of Paul Mendez, Velez appeared on the show 20 times between 2001 and 2003, which is a pretty solid gig. His later guest appearances include Pacific Blue, Charmed, and Numb3rs. And Velez also has some feature film credits on his resume, including Romero, Traffic, Repo Chick, and Bulletface. However, most people would probably recognize the actor from his role in the raucous Wayans Brothers flick, White Chicks.

General Hunt Stockwell had a knack for antagonism, a no-nonsense demeanor, and an ability to wear a pair of aviator-framed BluBlockers like nobody's business. Veteran actor Robert Vaughn slipped into the role with ease, bringing the formidable bad guy to life in the show's final season. With an already long list of acting roles in his resume, Vaughn kept his momentum at a crazy-fast speed once the show stopped airing. He took to the stage as Juror 9 in Twelve Angry Men, appeared in a few episodes of Law & Order, and starred in films like Motel Blue, Pootie Tang, and The Magnificent Eleven. Vaughn's biggest role following The A-Team, however, was as Albert Stroller in the British drama series Hustle, which ran from 2004 to 2012. As for his personal life, Vaughn married in 1974 and cared for two children with his wife until he passed in November 2016. After a year-long battle with leukemia, Vaughn died just a few weeks before he would've turned 84, and with credits like The Magnificent Seven and Bullitt, we have no doubt Vaughn's acting legacy will live on for a long time.