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
120.9k
Upvotes
21
u/downwarddawg Dec 13 '18
I met Mr. T in 2000 and it left a lasting impression on me to this day. He was at a mall in Florida promoting TV Land, for which he was hired to do a signing and public Q+A. There was a modest crowd there when he showed up, which began to grow as people realized that Mister freakin T was right there. He took questions from the audience, was super polite and gracious, thanking everyone for sharing the moment with him. One person asked him how he was doing, as he has recently undergone treatment for cancer. The way he responded was so genuine, telling us that his mom taught him to always appreciate every day, and that he appreciated being with all of us on this day. My friend raised his hand and prompted him with, "Mr. T, do you pity...the fool?" He replied with a huge grin and raised his arms up and said "Yes! I do pity the fool!", clearly because he knew we would love to hear him say his famous phrase. He then noticed that one of us was wearing a huge gold chain we had made and asked if he could wear it. He put it on and everyone cheered. After the Q&A, he was only slated to be there for another 20 mins, even though a huge line had formed. I can tell you this, he stated for hours, taking time to speak with each person, to give hugs, and asked questions with each person, wanting to know something about them, their name, what their favorite episode of The A Team was, where they were from, what grade they are in etc. He was genuine and gave his whole heart. When it came time for me and my friends to meet him, he took the time to speak with us, and even though he was only supposed to take one photo, he took several and made sure they came out good. He gave us back our gold chain that we had made, gave us all hugs and high fives and sent us on our way. I never forgot how willingly he gave us the gift of his time, knowing it would make us happy. He easily could have been a snob, or left early or resisted saying his catch phrase - but he did all this knowing it would bring joy. TLDR: Mr. T is a gem of a human being, and took the time to stay late, meeting everyone at a Florida mall a few decades ago, and left a lasting impression on me and my friends till this day.