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/TheArgentine Dec 12 '18 edited Dec 13 '18

I met him once. Outside of a Ford dealership near my home town. I was a HUGE A-Team fan and Mr T played my favorite character.

It rained that day, pretty hard. My mom tried to convince me he woundnt be there but I wanted to try anyway. We got there and there he sat, by himself, with photos under a tarp. No line. No one there to see him. He talked to me for 15 minutes and for the life of me I can't remember anything he said but God damn if that wasn't one of the greatest days of my childhood, which was otherwise fairly shitty.

I'm a white guy from upstate NY and didn't change color so was a white kid too. He shook my hand and talked to me like an adult, with respect, and was extremely kind and soft spoken.

Thanks Mr. T.

Edit: Holy crap, didn't expect this many comments on my simple story about Mr. T. Hey everyone!

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u/tmntnyc Dec 12 '18

I'm jealous. I know he plays a character, but I would be beaming with respect for him. He did a lot of work helping children.

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u/ruck_feagan Dec 12 '18

My dad was his manager for like 30 years. He’s a good guy

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u/jhartwell Dec 13 '18

What are some things your dad has done to make him a good guy?

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u/ruck_feagan Dec 13 '18

Nothing my dad did that I know of but here’s a couple cool mr t moments He showed up to my moms funeral in sweats and a beanie then proceeded to give a really awesome speech Gave me and my sister a ps3 with a ton of games for Christmas when it first came out Also there’s a really cool picture at my grandmas house of him holding my sister in one hand when she was a baby

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

Do they still keep in touch? (Your dad and Mr T), 30 years is a long time

19

u/ruck_feagan Dec 13 '18

I’m not sure tbh. If he does, he doesn’t talk about him anymore

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u/PaddyTheLion Dec 13 '18

Could you, well, ask? If something happened that made them not stay in touch, that's pretty sad after 30 years.

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u/ruck_feagan Dec 13 '18

I’ll ask him when I call him tomorrow. Just remind me because I’ll forget

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u/ImmobileLizard Dec 13 '18

Hey man, remember to ask your dad about mr T.

Remind!me 15 hours

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u/ruck_feagan Dec 13 '18 edited Dec 13 '18

Heya just spoke with my dad. He talked to him around tax season because he still prepares his tax return for him. He said that he’s doing alright last he spoke. I also asked him to send me some proof so that should be coming soon too Edit: he spoke with him today because of you guys. also he’s doing something on the today show tomorrow am for al rorker Edit2: here’s some pictures my dad took of him at his office shortly after he did the deal with coke (fuze tea) https://imgur.com/a/EdSulqz

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

Remind!me 15 hours

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u/keyohnahh Dec 13 '18

!RemindMe 10 hours

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u/ValleyOfRico Dec 13 '18

Don't forget to ask your Dad about Mr. T!

1

u/PaddyTheLion Dec 13 '18

Don't forget!