(Photo: Universal Television)
I pity any fool who doesn't know these fascinating facts about Mr. T rounded up by the Huffington Post. He's the one and only Mr. T and, yes, that is literally his name. He legally changed it when he saw his accomplished older brother being addressed as 'boy'--an insulting form of address traditionally used in America to refer to black men. Mr. T is nobody's 'boy':
"I was not born Mr. T," the actor explains. "I changed my name because as a black man growing up in white society, I watched my father being called 'boy,' and he was a preacher. I watched my brother coming back from the Marines and Vietnam and being called 'boy.' I watched enough black men in my family being called 'boy,' so I point to the fact: What does a black man have to do to get his respect as a man? So, when I became 18 years old, I legally changed my name to Mr. T."
He continued, "I'm not one of those rappers with a fake name. My driver's license: 'Mr. T.' My passport: 'Mr. T.' And everything. My new birth certificate: 'Mr. T.' Mr. T is short for my family name. I was born Lawrence Tureaud. Me and my father shortened it to Tero, but really that’s what it stood for. Legally, my name's Mr. T."
You can read more at the Huffington Post, including about the time Mr. T chopped down 70 trees in 3 hours.