Tiny Tim - King for a day

The story about Herbert Khaury’s rise to stardom as Tiny Tim is the ultimate fairytale of the oddest man in showbiz. Born in 1932 in the midst of the Great Depression, he was an outcast as a boy; the only child of a Jewish mother and a Lebanese Catholic father. Little Herbert was not at all like the other kids, and his individuality was not seen as a positive trait. His mother tried to have him institutionalised numerous times, but never succeeded. After what was later referred to as a sign from God, he started to sing in a falsetto voice in the early 50s. And so he could run away from bullies faster, he switched from playing the guitar to the smaller ukulele. In the 50s he auditioned at small music competitions, and in the 60s he performed at obscure clubs in Greenwich Village, specifically lesbian cabarets. He gained a cult following, but also hatred and ridicule. From then on, things started moving rapidly for Tiny Tim. And the rest is history…