Quit your jibber jabber and listen up.
Mr. T has done everything from movies to rap songs, and now in his latest project he's traveling around the country and surprising unsuspecting fools hotel guests. Taking the moniker Mr. Guaran-T, Mr. T is heading to random locations of Fairfield Inn & Suites to make sure everything is running smoothly.
"Other places you go, they say we got a guarantee for this and that, and in order for you to get your guarantee you gotta go to India, and you gotta go sit on Mount Kilimanjaro, you gotta send in some special numbers. No, no, no, Mr. T is on the spot," the actor tells The Huffington Post.
Though he says he was born to play Mr. Guaran-T -- because if his "name was Mr. H, it wouldn't work" -- the actor revealed he'd never actually change his name because he became Mr. T for an important reason. He dropped all kinds of other knowledge on us, too.
Here are 5 things you didn't know about Mr. T:
1. There's a real, profound reason his name is Mr. T.
"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."
2. Mr. T once chopped down 70 trees in 3 hours.
The story goes that Mr. T was in the military, and as a punishment. he had to chop down trees. Over about a three-and-a-half-hour span, T supposedly cut 70 trees before the person who made him do the punishment was reprimanded. It sounds like an Internet myth, but T confirms it's the truth, fools.
"I was up in Wisconsin. I was in the military training -- National Guard. It was hot up there. There was a commander throwing their weight around, and I was just above private, so they told me to do stuff, I said, 'OK, no problem.' And I just got to cutting and cutting and just sweating it. Boom! Then the company commander came and got on the guy’s case who told me to do it, but I just kept cutting," says T.
3. "Treat Your Mother Right" is the greatest song ever, according to Mr. T.
"That’s the best song in history, next to 'Amazing Grace,'" says Mr. T when asked about his viral song, "Treat Your Mother Right."
"It’s still No. 1 in people’s hearts. When mother’s hear it, they want to keep playing it, and that’s why I dedicated that song to my own mother back in 1984," says T before busting out a few lines: "'Mother. There is no other. My mother.' Ooh, man! It gives me chills just reminiscing right now!"
Image: Imgur
4. Mr. T plans on wearing the mohawk 'til he goes bald.
Since he changed his name to Guaran-T for his new campaign, we asked Mr. T if he'd ever change up his look, too.
"No. As a matter of fact, I'm going to wear this mohawk 'til my hair starts falling out. I got a couple more years. And then when it falls out, I go back to being baldheaded. No! I know what ill do. I'll turn the mohawk to another side. When I'm balding in the middle, I'll turn the mohawk on the side," laughed T.
5. Mr. T would clock Sly Stallone in "Rocky III" if he forgot his choreography.
Mr. T's breakout role as Clubber Lang in "Rocky III" made an impression on Hollywood -- and on Sylvester Stallone's face. Mr. T tells HuffPost he and Stallone would actually box to prepare for the movie, and sometimes things got real.
"One thing I like about Sly when we trained, we were working on the choreography on the film, and he said, 'If I forget to duck, you got to go ahead and clock me, because if you pull it, it’s gonna look phony, and it’s the same thing with you if you forget.' And I said, 'No problem.'"
Image: RapGenius
Bonus: There's a big reason Mr. T pities fools, but it's not what you think.
"I've been in the pity business for many years. Everybody I pity is not a fool, and all fools I don't pity," explains T.
"When I pity anybody, I'm showing them mercy. Pitying is showing mercy, so take away the hate, there’s enough going on, and show some compassion. Because pitying means you’re gonna give them a break. You're gonna let them slide. Pity is good."
Also on HuffPost:
