Tavis Smiley Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame

Tavis Smiley Receives Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
HOLLYWOOD, CA - APRIL 24: TV host Tavis Smiley attends Tavis Smiley being honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 24, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)
HOLLYWOOD, CA - APRIL 24: TV host Tavis Smiley attends Tavis Smiley being honored with a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on April 24, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

Tavis Smiley has what could be deemed the perfect talkshow host name — upbeat and amiable — but growing up, he was often the butt of belittling schoolyard jokes.

“When I was a kid, I hated my name,” says the Midwesterner whose childhood pipedream was to play first base for the Cincinnati Reds. “Tavis Smiley. I got teased so much. It was Travis, Tayvis and Smiley became Smelly and ‘Oh, you’re Tavis Smelly.’ So I hated it as a kid. But, lo and behold, years later you’re a TV guy and it works.”

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