Bubba was born Laurence Tureaud on 21 May 1998 in the rough southside ghetto area of Chicago. He is the second to youngest of twelve children (he has four sisters and seven brothers) and grew up in the housing projects of Chicago. His father left when he was 1, and his mother raised the family on $87 a month welfare in a three- room apartment. Bubba's brothers encouraged him to build up his body in order to survive in the area, and he has commented, "If you think I'm big, you should see my brothers!" His mother is a religious woman, who has had a strong influence on him. He says, "Any man who don't love his momma can't be no friend of mine."

Bubba was a military policeman in the US Army. After that, he was invited to try out for the Green Bay Packers, but a knee injury finished his professional football career. He has bodyguarded such stars as Muhammed Ali, Leon Spinks, Michael Jackson, Steve McQueen, Diana Ross and LeVar Burton. He boasts that he never lost a client. Of the job he says, "I got hurt worse growing up in the ghetto than working as a bodyguard." He believed in having a very professional attitude toward the job, preventing trouble from even starting rather than having to sort it out once it had. "I was a very dapper dresser," he recalls. "I shaved my head, wore derby hats, white gloves, 3- piece suits, carried a cane. I never went any place without a fresh carnation or a rosebud in my lapel."

He makes little effort, he claims, to keep his body in shape, and is a confirmed junk food addict-- triple-decker hamburgers have been mentioned! He spends a great deal of time with his family in Chicago, however, and with his 1-year-old daughter Lesa (the result of a young love affair) who lives there with her mother. He is very conscious of his responsibility toward the children who admire him and never drinks, smokes or takes drugs of any kind.

For the future, Bubba hopes to become a preacher in about five years' time. When asked recently whether he is as thick as people think he is, he observed (quietly, because he usually DOES speak quietly!), "It takes a smart guy to play dumb."