One of the first rules of thumb when learning to be streetwise is to never underestimate anyone. You don’t know them, thus you don’t know their capabilities. You might encounter a passerby who’s an assassin. Or you might be walking by another average Joe. Never allow yourself to get cocky in any confrontation. The cocky ones often end up being the ones in the hospital the next morning.
So what about celebrities? Can’t we fairly easily judge those actors, comedians, writers and personalities who are inherently badass? Seems that way. And yet, there are a lot of surprisingly badass current and past people in entertainment who remain incredibly unassuming. Here are five such individuals who are just as surprisingly badass as they are talented:
Ed O’Neill:
The 68 year old star of such shows as Married with Children & Modern Family is known for his typical role as the grumpy dad. However, Mr. O’Neill is a man much deeper than his characters, who somehow have been reading the same newspaper for the last few decades. For over two decades this cantankerous yet lovable man has been training under Rorion Gracie of the famed Gracie family, having earned his black belt in Gracie Jiu Jitsu.
Maynard James Keenan:
The singer of Tool may make some scary music, but that isn’t the only thing scary about him. Keenan, like O’Neill, also trains in Jiu Jitsu. And he seems to be finding a practical use for his martial arts experience. During one particular show, as a fan jumped onto Tool’s stage, Maynard grabbed the crowd-surfer before security could get to him and held him on the ground in a choke hold while continuing to sing.
Tim Heidecker:
This funny man is best known for his various shows on [Adult Swim] like Tim & Eric’s Awesome Show Good Job, Tom Goes to The Mayor and as the writer of Dr. Steve Brule and the Old Spice commercials. He has some hobbies as well. Tim is a talented musician and also apparently likes to protect his elderly neighbors. Rumor has it one of Tim’s neighbors was attacked, and he decided to jump in between the older woman and the attacker (who is said to have been her drugged-out-of-his-mind son). Mr. Heidecker was stabbed twice in the back but survived the assault.
Julia Child:
Julia Child is known for her soft voice and French cooking. But before she became a world famous cook with her own books & show, she joined The Office of Strategic Services during World War II. Her job? She assisted in the development of shark repellent, which would ensure sharks could not prematurely detonate ordnance attacks targeting German U-Boats. Yes, you heard that right. And as if that wasn’t already legit enough, she was also awarded the Emblem of Meritorious Civilian Service as head of the Registry of the OSS Secretariat.
Bob Ross
Another PBS favorite, Mr. Bob Ross, known for his happy mistakes, inspired generations to become artists. But his soft voice was not always so gentle. He enlisted in the Air Force while he sold paintings. During that time, Mr. Ross said he was mean and nasty. He was apparently known to berate lower ranking individuals and force them to scrub the bathrooms if they were late to work. For the troops under Mr. Ross, mistakes were rarely happy.
