Tiny Tim: King for a Day (2020) - full transcript

♪ They say our love won't pay the rent ♪

♪ Before it's earned our
money's always spent ♪

♪ Well I don't know we ain't got no plot ♪

♪ Still I'm sure of all the love we got ♪

♪ Babe ♪

♪ I got you babe ♪

♪ I got you babe ♪

♪ Some people say your hair's so long ♪

♪ I don't care, with
you I can't go wrong ♪

♪ So put your little hand in mine ♪

♪ Ain't no mountain or
valley we can't climb ♪



♪ Babe ♪

♪ I got you babe, I got you babe ♪

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.

♪ When you're strange ♪

♪ Faces come out of the rain ♪

♪ When you're strange ♪

♪ No one remembers your name ♪

Tiny Tim's on next!

♪ When you're strange ♪

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.

♪ Strange ♪

♪ I treasure the grace of
her sweet smiling face ♪

♪ The Bible my mother left for me ♪

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.

♪ Like a shivered sea ♪

♪ I'm just lost in a fog ♪

♪ My mind is hazy ♪

♪ My thoughts are blue ♪

♪ Guess I'll always be ♪

♪ Kind of lost in the park without you ♪

♪ Waiting night and day ♪

♪ Like a bump on a log ♪

♪ I'm going crazy ♪

♪ Why can't you ♪

♪ Help me find my life ♪

♪ Because I'm ♪

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.

♪ Was a lovely April shower ♪

♪ It was the most haunting and dark ♪

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!

♪ I hung around til three or four ♪

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.

♪ I had a crazy feeling ♪

♪ The first time we met ♪

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.

♪ People are queer ♪

♪ They're always glowing, scrambling ♪

His biggest conviction
was you gotta do something

to get noticed.

♪ And dress themselves this way ♪

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.

♪ Mary Lou ♪

♪ Mary Lou ♪

♪ Cross my heart ♪

♪ I love you ♪

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.

♪ Open the page of a book and all ♪

♪ Brings back a memory of days of Yore ♪

♪ Only a rose leaf that lingers ♪

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.

♪ When I have brand new hairdo ♪

♪ And my eyelashes are in curl ♪

♪ Well I float like the clouds on air do ♪

♪ I enjoy being a girl ♪

Who is this?

Where did he come from?

Who dropped him here?

He's not from here.

That voice is also not from here.

♪ Being a guy, having a girl like me ♪

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.

♪ When you're strange ♪

♪ Faces come out of the rain ♪

The Scene was one of those places

where all musicians would get together

and see another musician.

♪ No one remembers your name ♪

♪ When you're strange ♪

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.

♪ Gold will change you like Mephisto ♪

♪ Remember this, though ♪

♪ Love makes you a Monte Cristo ♪

♪ King for a day ♪

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!

♪ We are calling out so loud, ♪

♪ Oh love ♪

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!

♪ It's time to say goodnight ♪

Well Tiny Tim,
I hope that Hollywood

doesn't make you affected.

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

Bye-bye Tiny.

♪ On the good ship lollipop ♪

♪ It's a sweet trip to a candy shop ♪

♪ Where bonbons play ♪

♪ On the sunny beach of peppermint bay ♪

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.

♪ I'm so happy ♪

♪ Happy go lucky me ♪

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'm right here to stay ♪

♪ When I'm old and gray ♪

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.

♪ Oh, tiptoe through the window ♪

♪ By the window that is where I'll be ♪

♪ Come tiptoe through the tulips ♪

He's a star.

Listen to this, you know.

The man's a star.

♪ Oh ♪

♪ Tiptoe by the garden ♪

♪ By the garden ♪

♪ Among the willow tree ♪

This is my favorite,
watch this right here.

♪ Leading ♪

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.

♪ Knee deep in flowers we'll stray ♪

♪ We'll keep the showers away ♪

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.

♪ And tiptoe through the tulips with me ♪

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!

♪ There will always be an England ♪

♪ While there's a country lane ♪

♪ Wherever there's a cottage small ♪

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.

♪ Welcome to my dream ♪

♪ It now seems real ♪

♪ You're what it needed ♪

♪ To make it ideal ♪

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.

♪ Fill your heart with love today ♪

♪ Don't play the game of time ♪

♪ Things that happen in the past ♪

♪ Happened in your mind ♪

♪ In your mind, only in your mind ♪

♪ In your mind ♪

♪ Forget your mind and you'll be free ♪

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.

♪ Tiny Tim for president ♪

♪ Oh Tiny Tim for queen ♪

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.

♪ Cars are waiting ♪

♪ Windshields wiping ♪

♪ Nowhere left to go ♪

♪ The ice caps are melting ♪

♪ Ho, ho, ho, ho ♪

♪ All the world is drowning ♪

♪ To wash away the sin ♪

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.

♪ As I approach the prime of my life ♪

♪ I find I have the time of my life ♪

♪ Learning to enjoy at my leisure ♪

♪ All the simple pleasures ♪

♪ And so I happily conceive ♪

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.

♪ Beautiful girls ♪

♪ Walk a little slower ♪

♪ When you walk by me ♪

♪ Lingering sunsets ♪

♪ Stay a little longer
with the lonely sea ♪

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.

♪ I will stay younger ♪

♪ Than spring ♪

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.

♪ With you ♪

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.

♪ If you only knew ♪

♪ The dreams that I've
been dreaming 'bout you ♪

♪ All night through ♪

♪ Got the ring and everything is ready ♪

♪ All you have to do is put it on ♪

♪ One week, seven little days ♪

♪ Wish that they were gone ♪

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.

♪ But I'll be doggone happy ♪

♪ When the preacher makes you mine ♪

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.

♪ Oh won't you come and love me ♪

♪ Oh pretty Vicki mine ♪

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.

♪ I love you and you love me ♪

♪ We love each other dear forever ♪

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.

♪ You are the love of my heart, dear ♪

♪ You are my sunshine too ♪

♪ Sunshine too ♪

He was really
good at performing,

and that's where he was most comfortable.

♪ One two three o'clock ♪

♪ Four o'clock rock ♪

♪ Five six seven o'clock ♪

♪ Eight o'clock rock ♪

♪ Nine 1011 o'clock ♪

♪ 12 o'clock rock ♪

♪ We're gonna rock around
the clock tonight ♪

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.

♪ Oh the standard of
morals for woman and man ♪

♪ Has made it a point that she cannot ♪

♪ While he can ♪

♪ So who is to blame ♪

♪ It's a man's every time ♪

♪ It's a man ♪

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.

♪ It's a sin to tell a lie ♪

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.

♪ Were spoken ♪

♪ I love you ♪

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.

♪ Mammy, mammy ♪

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.

♪ I kiss the dear fingers ♪

♪ So toil-worn for me ♪

♪ Oh god bless you ♪

♪ And keep you ♪

♪ 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.

♪ Come tiptoe to the gas pumps ♪

♪ Fill her up ♪

♪ Give me all you've got ♪

♪ Till I scream I've had enough ♪

♪ So you met someone who
swept right off your heels ♪

♪ Little girl, so you met someone ♪

♪ And now you know how
it feels, very good ♪

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.

♪ Dance with me, dance with me ♪

♪ Dance with me ♪

♪ If I kiss you in the garden ♪

♪ In the moonlight will you follow me ♪

♪ Tiptoe through the tulips with me ♪

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.

♪ Well if you want my body ♪

♪ And you think I'm sexy ♪

♪ Come and get it ♪

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.

♪ Midnight ♪

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.

♪ Don't go strolling down lover's lane ♪

♪ With anyone else but me ♪

♪ Til I come marching home ♪

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.

♪ Because it's a good day ♪

♪ For paying your bills ♪

♪ And it's a good day ♪

♪ For curing your ills ♪

♪ Take a deep breath ♪

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.

♪ Does life seem to me ♪

♪ Like a long winter's day ♪

♪ All of my troubles ♪

♪ Just faded away ♪

♪ You're gone from me ♪

♪ And the summertime's blue ♪

♪ Came autumn sadness ♪

♪ Then love brought me you ♪

♪ All day I'm sighing ♪

♪ And longing for you ♪

♪ Life's worth living ♪

♪ Since I have met you ♪

♪ Each night I'm dreaming ♪

♪ Your face so true ♪

♪ Fate often left me ♪

♪ Sighing for you ♪

♪ Fate often left me ♪

♪ Sighing for you ♪

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.

♪ Once I lived a life of a millionaire ♪

♪ Had lots of money ♪

♪ Didn't have a care ♪

♪ Carried my friends out for a good time ♪

♪ Buying bootleg liquor ♪

♪ Champagne and wine ♪

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.

♪ Thou's the one I love ♪

♪ Sweet Sue ♪

♪ That's you ♪

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!

♪ Sweet Sue ♪

♪ Sweet Sue ♪

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".

♪ Tiptoe by the window ♪

♪ By the window ♪

♪ That is where I'll be ♪

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.

♪ It sure is good to see you ♪

♪ But I would have liked to hold you ♪

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.

♪ Perhaps in the next life ♪

♪ When our roads touch again ♪

♪ I'll be able to love you ♪

♪ The way ♪

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.

♪ Eternal troubadour ♪

♪ Tiny Tim ♪

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.

♪ Years ago they said I'd never make it ♪

♪ They tried to stick
a pin in my balloon ♪

♪ They said I was too strange ♪

♪ That my dreams were all in vain ♪

♪ But they said the same
about man on the moon ♪

♪ I knocked on doors ♪

♪ And I sang my songs and ♪

♪ Each day they'd say hey go away ♪

♪ And don't come back ♪

♪ But I crusaded ♪

♪ Until I made it ♪

♪ Nothing's impossible if you try ♪

♪ So have your dreams ♪

♪ Go on and sing your song ♪

♪ There's nothing wrong ♪

♪ With singing out of tune ♪

♪ If people laugh ♪

♪ And say your dream can never be ♪

♪ Just think of me ♪

♪ And man on the moon ♪

♪ And just a while back ♪

♪ You'd be a bit cracked ♪

♪ If you would talk about
a walk out on the moon ♪

♪ And who'd believe it ♪

♪ We've finally reached it ♪

♪ Nothing's impossible if you try ♪

♪ So have your dreams ♪

♪ Go on and sing your song ♪

♪ There's nothing wrong ♪

♪ With singing out of tune ♪

♪ If people laugh ♪

♪ And say your dream can never be ♪

♪ Just think of me ♪

♪ Just think of me ♪

♪ And man on the moon ♪

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.

♪ Tiptoe through the window ♪

♪ By the window, that is where I'll be ♪

♪ You can tiptoe through
the tulips with me ♪

♪ Tiptoe by the garden ♪

♪ By the garden of a willow tree ♪

♪ And tiptoe through the tulips with me ♪

♪ Knee deep in flowers we'll stray ♪

♪ We'll keep the showers away ♪

♪ And if I kiss you ♪

♪ In the garden, in the moonlight ♪

♪ Will you pardon me ♪

♪ And tiptoe through the tulips with me ♪

♪ Knee deep in flowers we'll stray ♪

♪ We'll keep the showers away ♪

♪ And if I kiss you ♪

♪ In the garden ♪

♪ In the moonlight ♪

Until we meet again,
this is Tiny Tim saying

to all of my dear
friends, wherever you are

in TV land, goodnight!

♪ With me ♪