Original subtitles

- This is army sergeant Bob Martin

on the scene of Beat Club in Bremen Germany,

and I have with my today, god bless, Tiny Tim.

- Going through the city for almost 10 years,

13 years, at least, being as a freak.

It was really the challenge I tried to overcome,

because in all fairness, by 1962,

every friend of mine and every relative

had given up on me.

They would come into my mother's house

and just shake their head when they saw me

and walk the other way. - That's amazing.

- That's why I believe you're talking

to the biggest miracle perhaps ever

in the history of show business,

because while there were people who did suffer

hard and starve and went through all this,

they never had to go through the art

of being a freak,

and make it at the same time.

I don't know anyone who has done it.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Mr. Tiny Tim!

Ladies and gentlemen--

- The one and only-- - New York City's own--

- Tiny Tim! - Tiny Tim!

Tiny Tim!

Dear Lord,

today I had an awful day.

I am the biggest star in the country.

What I have is desired by almost everyone,

and yet, oh blessed Lord, my soul is dwelling in Hell,

and I cry out for help, oh Jesus.

Tiny Tim's on next!

- Who is this?

Where did he come from?

Who dropped him here?

- His sexual ambiguity, political ambiguity,

ethnic ambiguity, it's all ambiguous with Tiny Tim.

- I feel like someone from Mars come to Earth.

- He took all the male female adult child

and just kind of put it into a blender

and hit the button.

And then I immediately thought

that's the man I want to marry.

- Tiny's widow is here.

My name is Johnny Pineapple.

I was Tiny's closest friend,

and we're actually in the middle

of shooting a documentary.

Oh my gosh.

- So this is very exciting

that in the time of your loss,

you know, are here for a funeral,

but God bless you, decided to come down

and just see where Tiny is resting.

Let me show you.

Come on in.

He was born Herbert Butros Khaury.

And of course everybody knows him as Tiny Tim.

Is he from here?

- Good question.

Actually he was a New York City guy,

born and raised in New York City in 1932.

- When you look at where Herbert Khaury begins

and Tiny Tim ends, nothing was ever normal

from top to bottom, from start to finish.

So why should his birth be normal?

- If they had waited to do that cesarean

another minute or two, he would have lived out his life

in the rehabilitation hospital, in a wheelchair

or in bed.

- His mother Tillie is from a Russian Jewish family,

and his father, Butros,

is from a Lebanese Christian family.

That was unheard of, especially a Jew marrying an Arab

in those days was pretty unusual.

He had a violent relationship with mom and dad.

They had him, they took care of him.

I don't think they ever loved him.

- Tiny described to me many times

my parents' room had no door.

There was no door on their room.

No door.

And he was agitated.

And he couldn't leave his room

without walking into their private space.

- He had Russ Columbo, Bing Crosby, Arthur Godfrey,

and his ukulele.

He would play them 30 times a night,

and it would turn him on so.

Herbert!

- His parents were elderly, and they really tolerated him,

but they didn't understand him,

so he locked himself in his room,

and in his imagination, with another life,

invented his reality,

invented people in his loneliness

to take him away from that spot.

Had a violent clash with my mother.

She broke my records and my mandolin.

I was thrown out of the house

and stood in the cold rain for three hours.

- Was a particularly rough time in his life.

His parents are getting ready to throw him out of the house.

He wasn't making any money.

He decided he had to do something,

so he took the subway down to the financial district,

sat on the sidewalk with a sign

help save classical music.

You prick!

- The first time I saw Herbert

was when he was standing on the street

with his ukulele.

He really enjoyed it.

Fuck you!

They got mad because he was so damn weird,

and all they wanted to do was kill him,

throw eggs at him, garbage cans, anything.

Get fucking wrecked, you faggot!

Another wasted day

of my life has passed.

All in all, today was just another day of thinking.

Will I be a success in singing?

What is my future?

However, my main objective is to be

self-confident with girls.

My father insisted today that I see a psychiatrist,

but I said Jesus Christ is my doctor.

What Jimmy didn't know

was that Ralph was sick,

a sickness of the mind.

You see, Ralph was a homosexual.

- Tiny was what I call half-gay,

which means that his problem

had more to do with identity

than with sexual preference,

and he had when he was young

a relationship for about five years with a guy,

and it was just a romanticized friendship.

Bobby Gonsalves came in.

Praise the Lord.

And of course, I was admiring his body, muscles,

using myself as a punching bag, which is wonderful.

This is good and bad points

about Bobby Gonsalves

from the diaries.

Bobby Gonsalves, good points,

his kind heart, his sincerity,

his honesty, his tender gentle love for the poor,

his always telling the truth,

his warm smile of love.

- Well what is the bad points?

Bad points.

Zero.

You didn't know that he saw so much in you?

- No.

No, I really didn't.

Hmm.

What do you think about it?

- I'm a little shocked.

Bobby Gonsalves came.

He said he was sleeping over.

He took his pants and shirt and glasses off.

I closed the light and also went to bed with him.

I massaged his back.

He fell asleep.

Dad came into my room,

put the lights on, and almost blew a fuse

when he saw Bob, who was still asleep.

I tried to assure him, but finally Ma came in,

saw Bob, and boom!

That was it.

Out he went, and I got hit, yelling, et cetera.

I went to the pastor to tell him my views

on my belief in Christ.

He told me to see a psychiatrist.

Then I was kicked out of the Catholic church

for being a smart Alec.

Everyone is against me.

His biggest conviction was you gotta do something

to get noticed.

- There's a great photo of Tiny Tim

by Diane Arbus that really has the genesis of the look.

It's beautiful and shocking.

It has so many elements of what really makes something last.

It's a unique beauty, his character.

It's not typical beauty, by any means.

But it's beautiful in that he created it, you know.

It's a miracle, really.

The fellows kidded me

about my sissy-ish appearance,

but the girls looked at me.

- And then one day he says he prayed to Jesus

and he woke up with the high voice.

Today I tried my new style

at the old Alliance Club.

It worked.

Praise the blessed Lord Jesus, they screamed.

I must sing the sissy way.

God told me to sing the sissy way.

Thanks ever so much for the magnetism onstage

that you've given me.

Today I had to be taken to safety

by two cops and a fireman.

I believe, however, this is the start

of a great success.

- So Tiny basically went through the 50s

playing at all these amateur singing contests,

and all these little dive bars,

maybe making a few dollars here and there,

but actually didn't land his first steady gig until 1959

and that was at Hubert's Museum and Flea Circus,

which was essentially a freak show

located in Times Square.

I don't like to use the word freaks,

so I'll just use the oddities of nature,

and the main act was fleas dance to music.

- How do you train them?

- Well, we have to form habits in them.

Larry is Napolean bonafide with his cannons

and Caesar with their Roman chariots.

All right, boys.

- And he found himself billed alongside

the armless wonder, the handless sharp shooter,

elephant man, and whatever else they had in there.

And he was billed as Larry Love, the human canary.

It was no doubt humiliating in some way.

I mean, people came through not to enjoy these people,

but to gawk at them.

- A lot of the prescribed routes for us

to live and interact with one another

were considered artificial, were considered mannered,

as if people were walking around with masks

and playing roles.

And this is the way women are supposed to behave,

and this is what being a man is about.

- There had to be a break,

like a new generation was coming in

with completely different ideas.

- People who were reaching to be

something individual were valued

and appreciated for being just that.

And in that sense, Tiny Tim was one of those people,

and therefore he was a trailblazer.

Praise the Lord.

I was mentioned in the Village Voice

under the name Tiny Tim.

We have a different kind of music

for you right now.

A different kind of personality.

This gentleman is very, very quickly

picking up a following.

And let's have a great big hand

for Mr. Tiny Tim.

- I was wandering by this club in the West Village,

and in there I saw Tiny Tim.

Who cooked my brain.

And there was some women and some men,

and lights went out.

I hope you'll approve this song,

my dear friends, because if you don't

I'm very sorry, because these are one of these numbers

that catch me at this time of night.

- And in that silence and darkness

suddenly you could hear ukulele.

Who is this?

Where did he come from?

Who dropped him here?

He's not from here.

That voice is also not from here.

Speaking with the world's

greatest entertainer today, Mr. Dylan,

and his wanting me for a movie, Lord willing.

Thank you for the wonderful talent he sees in me.

To be a close friend of him, to stay and sleep

in his house, well this was too much.

And to top it all, he is paying me for it.

Thanks as I also sang for his beautiful wife and kids.

- Dylan was sort of interested in doing a film,

I kind of was involved in it,

in which we were gonna do a circus,

and Tiny Tim was gonna be the guy

with the top hat and the whip.

People were talking about it a lot

but it never got off the ground.

He was a complete outlaw.

A complete outlaw.

So it made him very vulnerable, but very interesting.

You really liked him a lot.

Thanks for a great night

at The Scene where the in crowd goes.

I will be a star.

The biggest star of our times.

- The Scene was one of those places

where all musicians would get together

and see another musician.

- Oh!

They're playing our campaign!

- Everybody thought that he was just a homeless guy

who wandered into the club.

We're watching him, and the audience

is kind of aghast.

- I know you're impatient waiting for it,

but I have to find the words for you.

Suddenly the audience, all of us,

sort of at the same time, realized

this guy's not kidding.

This guy's for real.

Then they started laughing in a different way.

- I may make the world think I'm merry,

but I can't hide the truth from myself,

so no matter what happens, I must go on acting,

acting, acting!

Today I signed a contract

with Reprise Records, Mr. Frank Sinatra's company.

They want me in LA on Monday for recordings.

You're going now to the west coast, to Hollywood?

Yes Bob, thanks again.

Can I just sing one last thing?

Nighty-night to all in radio land!

Well Tiny Tim, I hope that Hollywood

doesn't make you affected.

You won't go Hollywood on us, will you?

Bye-bye Tiny.

Hello my dear friends!

Well, here I am on record at last,

and it feels so wonderful to be here with you

on my first album.

- We put out the God Bless Tiny Tim album,

and the timing was right for it.

People were ready to accept him.

- We didn't treat him cartoony.

We treated him like a real pop singer, like Frank Sinatra.

A real singer, like a real artist.

- Tiny showed up at our office one day

with a shopping bag and with his ukulele

underneath his arm, and I did not know what to make of him.

The only thing he kept doing was this

oh, Mr. Deblasio, Mr. Deblasio,

thank you, thank you.

And I couldn't figure it out.

And I was told by Roy,

he said to me, now listen,

this one is crazy.

And I said well, you know, they're all sort of crazy.

Every one of them.

He said no, you don't understand.

This one is truly wacko.

I said wacko?

And he said wacko.

- I was in the middle of a writer's meeting

and Richard Perry walked in with Digby Wolfe

and said we wanna introduce you to somebody.

And I said not now, I've got the room full of writers.

I don't have time for that right now.

They said we must insist.

And they walked in with Tiny Tim

and the shopping bag, and I said what the hell?

- I got a surprise for you.

- Oh, you're kidding.

You got a goodie for me

so early in the evening?

- Wait'll you see this.

- So we brought him out onstage

and we introduced him, Dan introduced him to Dick,

and Dick had never seen anything like Tiny Tim.

- The toast of Greenwich Village

in his first appearance anywhere, Tiny Tim.

- NBC said you can't put this guy on,

he's like a freak.

I said he's a big star.

He's a star.

Listen to this, you know.

The man's a star.

This is my favorite, watch this right here.

- Ooh!

That was it.

And they fell in love with him.

- Once he hit laughing, he was playing everyone.

- This album right here, I understand people like Bob Dylan,

Peter Paul and Mary, predict that this next gentleman

is gonna be the biggest record seller

I guess of this coming year.

- Thousands of letters poured into CBS

asking who is this guy, but very quickly,

he was on the cover of every major magazine,

merchandising was popping up,

and God Bless Tiny Tim, miraculously,

pierced the top 10 of the US Billboard charts.

- It was unlike anything else.

- We just thought he was it.

- The audience loved him when he walked out there.

- Your appearance here, your last appearance here,

we received more mail about you

than almost anyone else we've ever had on the show.

- Oh thank you, out there in television land!

- A lot of our fans wanna know

how old are you, Tiny Tim?

- Oh, mystery!

I feel so young!

- I also know that you admire the astronauts,

or was it that you would like to be one?

- Well, not really an astronaut, Mr. Cavett.

I've always been--

It's not an astronaut I wanna be.

I'd love to go to the planets and stay there.

- The man who made tulips the national flower, Tiny Tim!

Years ago, I told my parents

that one day they would be in the front row

when I did the Ed Sullivan show.

No one believed it then.

Today, it happened.

- Take a bow.

Where are your parents?

I'd like them to stand up, please.

- Now, if my mother, for example, were to write you

and say that her son wears long hair

and sings in a falsetto voice,

and it bothers her, now what would you write back?

Assuming that I haven't made the grade yet.

- What is your mother's feeling?

Well--

Well before I made it, she asked who in her family

was like it.

And then my father asked the same thing,

because there was no answer to that.

So her feelings were quite bad.

- And as we move into the summer of 1968,

Tinymania reaches its climax.

He tours across the continental US,

including Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas,

then he moves across the Atlantic to the UK and Europe.

Everyone wants to meet him.

- Mr. Lennon called up and he said gee

he'd love to have me at Albert Hall.

One eye is brown.

The other eye,

is brown.

- Sounds strange to say well Tiny Tim arrived

at a time when the country needed a Tiny Tim.

We did, because the world was screwed up

nothing like it is today.

And the seagull flies

in search of land.

The children hide beneath the sand

while floating toys--

- We needed somebody that was that sweet,

that vulnerable, and that kind,

and Tim walked in there, and he became a national hero.

Thanks for the most

fantastic happenings.

People stop me wherever I go, and I sign autographs.

I am invited to parties

with all the great stars of Hollywood

and with beautiful girls.

- Yes, he was a cartoon character,

but that's when you looked at him with the shopping bag,

but it wasn't the shopping bag singing,

and it wasn't the funny jacket singing.

It was Tiny Tim, and what he was, and what he,

he added a magic to it

that I had never heard before.

Well, you broke it up again, Tiny.

- Thank you, Mr. Carson.

- That's a hell of a Russ Columbo style, right?

- Mixed with Mr. Crosby.

- Yeah.

Very good.

I think you took everybody a little bit by surprise

on that one.

Right?

- He was a great performer,

and he was passionate about his music,

but he was more passionate about girls.

- On the first of January

to the last day of December

I give a trophy out

to the most beautiful girl of the year

who I've met.

And I like to give a lot of trophies out,

but of course I can only give one.

Usually the girl never knows it.

- Have you ever thought of replacing the trophy

with a ring, or marriage--

- Never!

Never.

Because I could never get married.

- He'd tell us stories about girls he had crushes on.

- Yes, which was a lot.

A lot of girls.

- And one time he was getting so excited,

I don't know if you remember, Ms. Cleo,

he was telling us all about Ms. Cleo

who was a showgirl somewhere,

and all of a sudden he's going oh, Ms. Cleo, Ms. Cleo!

And he jumps on the bed on his back,

and he's kicking his feet and his arms,

and it's Ms. Cleo!

He was going like out of his mind.

- If you could imagine being like 15 years old

and seeing it, you know.

- I think I was on the second floor,

he was on the third, and obviously we were close.

He climbed down the balcony

and he snuck in through the sliding glass doors

and came into my room.

And his road manager, he just kept calling,

and he said I know Tiny is in the room with you.

He said this is not wise.

In the meantime, Tiny is saying don't tell him I'm here.

Don't tell him I'm here.

I was like, what do I do?

But I listened to Tiny.

And then he snuck out the same way.

- People always thought that he was some kind of lech,

but with us, I mean, he was just this great,

he was great.

He never did anything. - He was so sweet.

- I thought it was cool.

And it could've been something else, but it wasn't.

It wasn't.

And he was such the gentleman.

Always, anytime I was with him, always the gentleman.

- How many times realistically

did he get that close to serious,

serious legal ramifications.

- In certain places he could've gotten into a lot

of trouble just for--

- Hey, no kidding.

- Just for having her there with no clothes on.

Not that she had much choice, since she walked in

and took the clothes off without asking him.

- Remember in Iowa.

Tiny is approached by some, you know--

- He told me, that was--

- 13, 14 year old girl in Iowa.

- Yeah.

- And unbeknownst to Tiny--

- She's recording the telephone conversations.

- Yes.

- And then her dad--

- And it's getting.

Bingo. - Ugh.

- Dad gets a hold of it.

Dad goes crazy.

But there again was another situation

where there could have been serious ramifications.

- I don't know whether it's illegal

to talk to a 14 year old girl on the phone.

You couldn't get in trouble for that.

And the same, like talking on the phone to a girl,

depends on what they talked about, but--

- It was very sexual.

- Oh.

Oh, Tiny.

- I think that Tiny got more titillated by the temptation

and the fact that this was sinful,

or it was potentially sinful.

I hate to think this, but he was probably

a little bit of a tortured soul in that way.

Dear Lord, please forgive me

for the sin I committed with Ms. Candy

here at Caesar's Palace, as I spread honey

and peanut butter on her body.

Kissed Ms. Trisha,

fooled around with Ms. Carol.

Put cold cream on Ms. Iris.

Got wet.

Ms. Karen, might marry her.

Temptations were active, and save me from sin.

In Jesus' name I pray.

I must stop this sin, and I will with Thy strength.

- We all felt that he definitely did need an anchor,

and hopefully he would find a nice girl,

maybe develop a relationship.

So when we went on a book tour,

she happened to be there at Wanamaker's department store.

- I noticed her right away in her gray dress.

And as soon as I came up there, my eyes

started to swoon.

And then I looked at the crowd, I looked back,

and there she was again, I looked back,

there she was again, and she was still smiling.

- It was pretty incredible.

It was like love at first sight.

- Yeah. - I was there, yeah.

- And the next time I came back to Philadelphia

two days later, she came down,

she asked me for the address.

- She's here now.

Miss Vicki.

Dear Tiny Tim.

I'm lost without you.

I miss you.

There's no one but you.

Dear Miss Vicki,

thank you so much for sending me

the most exciting telegram I have ever received,

but I am more lost without you

than you will ever be without me.

Tiny Tim.

There's nothing,

just nothing without you.

There can never, ever be anyone but you.

Dear Miss Vicki,

I am thinking of you more than you will ever think of me.

All the silent objects are my witnesses.

This must be the last time

I will be ever be separated from you.

Thanks again, Tiny Tim.

Vicki, was it love at first sight?

- Um--

- It was really love at first fright.

- No, don't say that!

Although I think so.

Don't mind what he said about fright.

- Tiny Tim, would you sing us a song

that would express how you feel right now?

- Oh, I'd love to.

Yes, I sure would.

Points I must remember

concerning the marriage situation with Miss Vicki.

Give her gifts everyday.

Glorify her womanhood and praise.

Share every secret.

Welcome her mother and father.

Watch her menstrual cycles.

Build her up, especially in public,

in front of others.

Keep lotions near bed at romantic hours.

Not to forget peanut butter, honey,

mustard, whipped cream.

Dress as a teenager.

Eat her constantly.

Don't try to change her.

Give her freedom.

- Tiny was talking to Johnny Carson,

and Tiny said something about yes he had a girlfriend

and said we're gonna get married.

And Carson said, so where are you gonna get married?

He said, oh I don't know.

And Carson said, why don't you do it here?

And Tiny went, oh, Mrs. Carson.

Oh.

And looked around at me, and I thought,

oh this is interesting.

- His wedding was such a big event

that it produced a brownout.

The night that Tiny was married on the show

highest ratings in the Tonight Show history.

- I thought that it was gonna be a circus,

I thought they were gonna make fun of him,

and I didn't want to see him get married.

I couldn't dream of him anymore then.

- Before the word reality television,

this was reality.

- Wait a minute, am I having my hair cut?

No!

- Very little.

- No, no!

I don't want my hair cut.

- Didn't you promise Miss Vicki--

- No, no, no.

So we can see your face.

- Oh, no, no, no.

Oh, for my fans, I have to keep the curl for them.

Oh no, I don't know what to say.

You aren't even gonna get it trimmed

for your wedding?

Oh, we hardly took any off.

- Oh, thank god.

- They won't even notice the difference.

Aren't you gonna let him even it up

for you though, Tim?

- Oh no, no.

From New York,

the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson.

- People probably have been kidding

about Tiny Tim being married on the show, but we are not.

It happens tonight.

- And the Lord bless thee and keep thee,

this day, and unto the end.

Amen.

You may kiss the bride.

When I watch that video of our wedding

and I saw my young self,

and I went oh my gosh, and it all came floating back to me.

I had a vision in my head of a home,

with hardwood floors and matching dishes

and children, and cooking dinner every night,

and that never came to be.

I never cooked one dinner, ever,

ever for him.

Our life was on the road and in hotels

and that's what he wanted,

and that's what he liked.

- Here's the rest of the wedding party

to come out and say goodnight.

I thank you for being with us and letting us

televise this tonight, and wish you both

much, much happiness.

We'll see you tomorrow night.

Goodnight.

Thank you for the greatest day ever.

For this evening, I got married for the first time,

and the last, I pray,

to the most beautiful girl I know,

Miss Victoria May Buttinger.

I pray I can be worthy of her

and make her happy.

You've played at the Royal Albert Hall,

you've played at Caesar's Palace,

you've toured the world, and Tiny Tim gets married

on the Tonight Show, watched by an estimated

40 to 50 million people.

What do you do?

Where can you possibly go after that?

At this moment,

I am the hottest talent in the whole country.

I am the toast of the city

from Hollywood to New York.

I am praised by everyone.

And yet, with all the shouting and sinning,

my soul is in Hell, and I cry out for help, oh Jesus.

And after so many years of making

his own decisions, Tiny began to resent

people telling him what to do,

so he alienated Richard Perry,

Richard Perry quit, followed by Ron DeBlasio,

and Tiny was taken over by less experienced managers

who decided to go down the route of branding Tiny Tim

and Miss Vicki together as a package.

Thank you, as Miss Vicki

gave birth to a baby girl early this morning.

- Also thanks as Miss Vicki and the blessed event

are doing fine.

I can see, looking at them together like that,

I can see how I look like both of them.

I don't think that I'm proud.

And I think the reason why is because

from a very young age, I always had negative stories

about him from my mother, so because of that

it stuck in my mind.

Maybe at times I even felt embarrassed.

But now that I'm older, I realize

everyone's different, he was different for his era.

He was really good at performing,

and that's where he was most comfortable.

But when he was alone with people,

with friends, relatives,

he was so uncomfortable.

He couldn't really relate to other people.

His experiences as a child with his parents,

it wasn't good.

And I don't think he learned

the capacity to love.

- You know, he signed a contract with the mob,

and they were controlling him.

- Tiny definitely more than alluded to that.

He would say I've got the big boys.

He called them the big boys.

- One of these mafia people

said okay that's it, I'm taking it over.

I'm your new manager.

That was mainly it.

- Show business was very mobbed-up back then.

Of course, they controlled Las Vegas,

vending machines and jukeboxes and nightclubs.

They had booking agencies.

Everybody was saying who is this guy?

Including the FBI.

So they launched an investigation,

and they were particularly interested

if Tiny was connected to hoodlum associates

connected to Frank Sinatra, basically.

Night out at the Whisky A Go Go.

Mr. Kaufman made gesture of threat

when he said even if your father does not want

you to sign, you're gonna.

He is very on edge

after being in prison for more than a year.

I don't know how far my career will go with them,

but they do take personal interest in friendship with me

and will be the crutch I need to fight temptation.

And I got to know them,

and they didn't like me.

They looked like mobsters,

but I could hear, he'd be on the phone,

and he'd be like, you gotta get rid of her.

She's out for this,

like he was so mean.

He hated me.

Then Tiny would come to me and tell me these things,

like, he said oh you're no good,

and you just want what you can get,

and you just want money,

and I'm like, well did you stick up for me?

Did you tell him that's untrue?

Well, no.

You know?

That was really hurtful.

- If she gets a divorce, I will never give it to her.

The courts may.

This ring stays on the finger.

I love her now more than I did yesterday.

If she wants to be free, then I will never be free

until death do us part.

Sad day.

She leaves.

Dear Lord, Miss Vicki has left me again.

This time she came and told me to my face.

She is tired of this marriage.

She cried a bit and was amazed that I still could say

I love her and I'm happy with her.

I still mean it.

I feel sorry for her, and the baby.

I must now await further developments.

- You're in the Guinness Book of records.

Are you aware of that?

- Mr. Carson, I tell you.

They told me that,

but I never looked it up.

- The second highest rated television show

of all times next to the man's first walk on the moon,

is the night you were married on The Tonight Show.

It had the second highest rating,

but the marriage hasn't gone that well?

- Well, unfortunately Mr. Carson, that's life.

But I can say--

I mean, unfortunately, Miss Vicki left again

this January, and this time she said goodbye in person.

The first time, she didn't.

She just ran off with somebody else.

But at that time, I'll be waiting,

I don't believe in divorce.

And of course if she comes back

20 years from now, fine.

Under my terms, of course.

And basically--

- Can I ask what the terms are?

- Yes, frankly, some of the terms will be

she has to take a blood test.

During this time, Tiny's management,

they were trying all kinds of new things

to jumpstart his career.

- Well we do all benefits for the police

and the firemen all over,

New York area, Massachusets, Connecticut.

And we also bring monkeys, chimpanzees,

and magical acts with us,

and jugglers.

And on the road I've also seen some wonderful talent

like Mr. John McCormick, the toothless opera singer.

Ah!

Ah, now that, now you're talking.

- I consider it a very sad story,

because the way he was introduced and put immediately

like a freak.

- They didn't understand his genius,

and I think they were into something else

that had nothing to do with that,

and it was actually heartbreaking for me

because I knew what he was.

Hello, this is Tiny Tim saying

these are not imitations

but spirits as I feel they are living in me.

Depressing thoughts of failure

and of being and living in fear

and poverty and shame continue.

I try to think of what to do, but no results.

- Finally, Tiny's management stops wanting to pay

for his hotel room, and Tiny ends up back at 601

West 163rd Street with his mother.

Dear Lord, as I predicted,

I came back to live with my mother

where I left to go to Hollywood in November '67.

As I look out of my window, all my father's words

came back to me, and I really felt

what I wasted in the past,

and my shame, and my mother's shame

in me being back, I believe I have learned my lesson.

Lord willing, I will soon be back on top again.

This is when he graduated junior high.

- Notice she said junior high.

This is his friend, dear little friend.

My cousin.

Oh, his cousin.

My dear cousin Hal Stein

who is now the promotion manager of WKTU FM.

- He took a better position there.

Had a really angry argument

with my mother as she again had a lack of faith in me.

- So long, Mother.

- Thus begins I would say a very tumultuous decade.

- Mister gasoline man, give me some gas.

My tank is almost empty, so fill her up fast.

- To me it's amazing that he could get there

to begin with, it's amazing he could stay there

for a year or two.

He would have to do things that we can't even imagine

to stay there, to keep that being fresh,

to keep being on top, he would have had to,

I can't imagine what he would have done

in the late 70's when disco was a thing.

I can't imagine Tiny in the punk rock era.

Miss?

Miss Jan.

Miss Jan is Mr. Tim's wife.

- That's right.

Well nice to meet you.

Your life can't possibly be normal.

- Well, it really is exciting and very interesting.

I pray for my dear wife, Jan.

She is depressed again.

I have not done well in recent years.

I am helpless to her because of my own problems.

Today, Miss Jan met and chatted with Mr. Donald Trump.

He spoke nicely about me when he learned

she was married to me.

I think my wife loves Mr. Trump.

- At this point in time, Tiny was willing to pursue

pretty much any angle to make a comeback.

The closest he ever came was through his work

with Australian pop artist Martin Sharp

who invested considerable time and money

in Tiny Tim projects.

- Well, it's really gonna be a portrait of Tiny.

The basis of it is the World Non-Stop Singing Record,

we did it at Luna Park.

- The new world heavyweight singing champion,

the one and only Mr. Tiny Tim!

- And though Tiny did set the world record,

the Guinness Book of World Records

never recognized the achievement.

Martin Sharp's film was never released,

and Tiny went back to the States

and took a job touring with the circus.

- Who in the hell are you?

And what are you doing in this house?

- I just came to welcome you home, Jill.

- Merv?

- Marvelous Mervo, at your service.

Our very special guest star

here under the big tarp,

truly one of the entertainment world's most colorful

and unique personalities, the one and only Tiny Tim!

There must be changes in my career.

I must make it either in records, movies, or television,

or not at all.

The way I am handled right now by people who just want

to grab any engagement they can from me

so they can put a dollar in their pocket,

even at the loss of the talent you've given me, oh Lord.

- Thank you beautiful Mr. Wall

for bringing me out here.

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,

so thrilling to be here today

in beautiful--

I'm the first has-been star singer

who has ever sung with the circus.

Elvis Presley sung with the circus

but that was before he became a star.

- You say has-been star.

What was it like for you to go up to the top

and be married on Johnny Carson broadcast,

and then to do whatever's happened to you,

of which I'm not totally familiar.

- Great question.

It's really down, up, and down.

It was fantastic.

It was a great trip,

and of course for 17 years I've been trying

to make it back again.

- Yeah.

Tim hasn't been doing much television lately,

but he has been performing mainly in circus.

Des Moine River rising.

Flood getting nearer.

Electricity out.

Water contaminated.

How many lives were made more beautiful

because they were broken?

God loves you.

He's got a plan.

I can't do it alone anymore.

Get help.

- I was 12.

And I had 55 pictures of him on my wall.

I had always felt like I didn't really belong

in this world, and when I was a little kid

I had a fantasy that I was from another planet,

and when I saw him I thought he's the first person

I've ever seen who's from my planet.

Well, I hadn't much thought about Tiny for a long time.

I'd heard he was getting a divorce.

And all of a sudden I realized Tiny travels around

and plays small places, and I could meet him

if I wanted to.

I just called the hotel that was mentioned in the article

and invited myself to meet him.

He says are you attractive?

And I thought, it's a really inappropriate thing to say.

And I thought I should be angry, but I'm not.

It was just awkward and just wrong to say that,

but I just wanted to laugh.

And I said I suppose.

And he said, are you slim?

That's even worse.

And I was very thin at the time, and I said yes.

And he goes, well okay.

And we set a time and a place,

and I said we'll be there.

And he goes who's we?

And I said me and my boyfriend.

He goes, oh honey.

And I said I've waited 26 years to meet you

and I'm going to be there.

And he says, all right.

And he hangs up on me.

And that was our first conversation.

And my boyfriend said to me you're still in love with him.

And I said oh, no.

I said you know, he's old, and raggedy-looking

in the picture.

And I said it's not gonna be the same.

And he goes uh-huh, uh-huh.

And when I met him

he was to come down from his room

at the Hotel Fort Des Moine,

and we were gonna have dinner.

I didn't realize at the time how little money he had,

and what a huge sacrifice it was for him to buy dinner

for two guests.

And he says are you Miss Sue?

And I said yes.

And he says hi, I'm Tiny Tim.

And I thought, yes.

I knew that.

He's looking me up and down, and he's giving me

this look like, you really aren't that attractive.

And I'm looking at him like you are so old

and you look a stuffed animal that some little kid

has been playing with a lot for about 10 years.

And then I noticed that he was looking at me like

well maybe you're not that bad.

Maybe you're kind of cute.

And then within two or three minutes

the whole deal was done.

Without a word ever being said about it

it was just like this is obvious.

This is going to happen.

And Dennis said to me, he says

so that's your dream boy?

And I just looked at him like, yeah.

That's it.

Take this ring.

As a sign of my love and fidelity.

- As a sign of my love and fidelity.

In the name of the Father and of the Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

I'd like to present to you

Mr. and Mrs. Khaury.

By the time he married his third wife,

Sue Gardner, the national spotlight had long faded.

In recent years, Tim had found new popularity

among the retro music crowd.

I don't know how many people

have ever had an opportunity

to see a living legend.

Ladies and gentlemen!

The one and only!

Let's have a big round of applause for Tiny Timbo!

- The first time he got looked at medically

after we met, they said that they thought he had

five to seven years.

And then he started to get worse,

and they started to talk about three to five years.

And then they started talking about one to three years.

And in the end, the doctor said I cannot guarantee

that he will walk out of the office.

- Please welcome with me, Mr. Tiny Tim.

- If you hear any coughing during the show,

well it's because, you know--

Is there a doctor in the house?

- When I heard that he had a heart attack

I tracked him down in the hospital in Massachusets,

and we communicated fairly often

the last few months.

It became a very warm conclusion.

- I had wanted him to stay home for a long time.

He had promised me.

But I didn't realize how addicted he was

to performing and to applause

and the audience and all that stuff.

Tiny!

Tiny!

Control your destiny,

or someone else will.

It's not over until I win.

I don't know where to start with that day.

He colored his hair that day

and he was in a horrible mood.

- Tiny came up these stairs

proceeded straight ahead

because he was not feeling well that night

and he sat down and rested

to just take it easy.

- Tiny Tim Khaury.

- A small bandstand was set up against this wall,

and Tiny was pretty much front and center

which would have put him in approximately this position.

- The set was very short.

He did sing another song that I had never heard of.

I'll have you to remember when I grow too old to dream,

this song will live in my heart,

so kiss me my sweet, and so let us part.

In which I think he was consciously saying goodbye to me.

I think he knew that he was not gonna walk

out of that room alive.

- Miss Sue was sitting way in the rear of the room.

And then he sang a very short version

of "Tiptoe".

- So when Tiny all of a sudden, mm, grabbed his heart,

and Sue, as I get it, from the back of the room

kind of mouthed to him, are you okay?

He kind of went, no.

At that point, she got up, charged forward,

and that's when he pretty much knew he was collapsing

and fell into her arms.

- And he very gracefully knelt down,

and I think that he was gone right then.

An icon of the 60s died this weekend.

He tiptoed into America's heart

nearly 30 years ago.

One of a kind entertainer,

and the last sounds he heard were applause.

- Eccentricity, idiosyncrasy, quirkiness,

Tiny was a genuine joyful pear-shaped celebration

of all three.

He was perhaps the kindest man

I ever met.

Tiny, may your good works never die.

- Some celebrities walk around like they're the sun

and the moon, and he just wasn't that way.

He was wonderful.

- I feel like I'm Tiny when I say this,

but I feel like his spirit enters me.

He was like a turtle with no shell.

He was so honest, he was so open and out there,

and he was like a child.

- I hope that they understand why I am the way I am

because I use it as an excuse sometimes.

I'll say I can't help it, my dad was Tiny Tim.

It's not my fault.

- He really should get some credit

as being the first androgynous rock and roll era star.

Particularly in the next generation,

people like David Bowie, and Prince, and Boy George,

they must have ingested some of Tiny Tim.

- People either got it or they didn't.

There it was.

He was beautiful.

Oh, a story I have to tell you.

Neil Cassidy and I kidnapped him from the mafia.

Mr. Rocko fell asleep, and we snatched him.

We were driving up the west side highway in New York

to the Cloisters with Neil Cassidy driving the car,

and Neil and Tiny singing Bing Crosby duets

as we drove along.

Every now and then he'd go, oh Mr. Cassidy,

not so fast!

Oh relax, Tiny, everything's cool!

I'm just gonna roll this joint and drive with my knee.

Oh god, what a hoot.

I can't believe I, you almost didn't get that one.

- Until we meet again, this is Tiny Tim saying

to all of my dear friends, wherever you are

in TV land, goodnight!