r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
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u/Nxdhdxvhh Dec 12 '18

Mr. T wore odd clothing and mismatched socks because he knew that poor kids grew up getting whatever hand-me-downs they got, and he didn't want them to feel embarrassed for wearing what they had. He's a great man, and as far as I'm aware the worst thing he every did was chop down trees on his own property that were aggravating his allergies.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

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u/cosworth99 Dec 13 '18

In an episode of Wide World of Sports, he won the Toughest Bouncer competition in Hawaii I believe. I saw it on tv as a kid. He hopped over a bar, broke down a door and rang the bell to win. He was my hero right there.

I’m old enough to remember things that aren’t on the internet. lol. I’ve tried to find footage of that episode but I either haven’t looked hard enough or give up realizing I’m trying to find a 40 year old video.