Dress Like Howlin' Mad Murdock!

Captain H. M. "Howlin Mad" Murdock is a fictional character in the 1980's television series, The A-Team.

He was played by actor Dwight Schultz. The character of Murdock was almost written out of the series before it even aired, because the producers found the Murdock too "over the top". The test audience really responded positively to "Howlin' Mad" and that convinced the producers to keep the part of Murdock. Murdock appeared on The A-Team from the show's beginning in 1983 until its cancellation in 1986. Schultz had a cameo in the 2010 film, while Sharlto Copley (of District 9) will be the Murdock character in the 2010 movie. (Info from Wikipedia.)

H. M. Murdock is a pilot who flew helicopters in the Vietnam War. This soldier LOVES to fly!! H. M. stands for Howlin' Mad (not spelled out in full). Everyone generally calls him "Murdock," and only occasionally "H. M." -- rarely Howlin' Mad, (but he does paint "Howlin' Mad" under his car's "cockpit" in one episode --"The Taxicab Wars.") In the TV series, Murdock is played by actor Dwight Schultz. Murdock flew with The Air Force's Thunderbirds before the war in Southeast Asia. The Thunderbirds are the best of the best that the Air Force has in the way of pilots. As you can imagine, he is a gifted pilot, and can fly in tight spaces that only a crazy man would try. He says in the show, "If it has wings I can fly it!"

It has been discovered that Murdock is certified crazy and resides in the VA hospital in the mental ward. He is regularly broken out for missions with the team, usually under some pretense rather than by force.

He is usually seen wearing a fitted (unstructured) baseball cap with the retro green undervisor, khaki slacks and navy blue Converse Hi-top sneakers. His ever-present flight jacket, a WWII style, is painted on the back, with a growling tiger face under the words "DA NANG 1970".

Murdock is often seen wearing strange and wonderful t-shirts on the show." (description is directly from the HowlinMad Mental Museum caretakers. If there is a problem with Murdock's description, report it to them, please. But, be careful, they might get Howlin Mad at ya!)

Who is Dwight Schultz?

"William Dwight Schultz (born November 24, 1947) is an American stage, television, and film actor. He is best known for his roles as Captain "Howling Mad" Murdock on the 1980s action show The A-Team, Reginald Barclay in Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager, and the film Star Trek: First Contact, and Mung Daal in the children's cartoon Chowder." (from Wikipedia.)

What is the A-Team?

In 1972, The A-Team was accused of a crime (robbing the Bank of Hanoi) they didn't commit. (They were actually ORDERED to do it, but that's another story...) They have been on the run ever since. The show takes place in 1983-1987. They are Special Forces trained, and they help innocent people all over the world with big problems (problems generally=gun-toting bullies!) They work best when together, and can think and work as one (almost to the point of psychic connections.) They are the Robin Hoods of modern day ('80s) Los Angeles, CA, who rob from the truly evil scumbags of the earth and lift up the innocents!

The show was criticized for its cartoon violence, where car-flip victims merely staggered away from the wreckage, and bullets rarely met their mark. Some people fail to cite that The A-Team were against actually shooting their enemies, and ultimately gained capitulation with wit, tactics and fisticuffs. Aiming guns at tires and car radiators to stop vehicles, and walls of buildings just over the heads of enemies, was more their style.

The team members are as follows: The leader is Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith (everyone calls him "Hannibal.") Hannibal is played by George Peppard. Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck is the con-artist (everyone calls him "Face.") Face is played by Dirk Benedict. Sargent Bosco Barracas (always referred to as "B. A." - for Bad Attitude) is a tough-as-nails muscle man with a Mohawk haircut and a scowl covering his rarely-seen-but-I-promise-it's-there tender heart. B. A. is played by Mr. T. These members are on the run as fugitives from the Military Police and are sometimes reported to the MP's by local law enforcement. The fourth member of the team is their "getaway car" driver, er, uh, pilot of their escape helicopter. He went crazy and is not considered responsible for his actions. (All information from the Howlin'Mad Mental Museum and reprinted with the caretakers' permission.)

Addicted to Murdock, then you might want to listen to past broadcasts of Howling Mad Radio hosted by Dwight Schultz.

The folks at HowlinMad have consulted some seemingly comprehensive online lists, but ultimately, chose to go straight to the source material.

Lovingly gathered from on-screen glimpses in the show, they pieced them together like jigsaw puzzles, when necessary. In other words, these shirts were created with research in frame by frame analysis of the source material--"The A-Team" episodes.


According to the museum's website, all the shirts Murdock wore on The A-Team, were originally created by Dwight Schultz.

With diligence they have carefully applied themselves to create the most accurate possible representation of the shirts worn by Howlin' Mad.

Find them in the "As seen on Howlin' Mad" category in their howlinmad's Store at Zazzle (clickable link).

Below, see HowlinMad's reproduction of the shirt seen above:

Murdock's Regular by HowlinMad
See other Murdock Shoes

Murdock's Regular by HowlinMad
More Murdock Embroidered Hats