Tiny Tim

 

"I'd love to see Christ come back to crush the spirit of hate and make men put down their guns.  I'd also like just one more hit single."

Tiny Tim was born Herbert Butros Khaury in New York City on April 12, 1932.  He was a born musician, who was singing and playing the guitar by the time he was six.  He spent much of his teenage years studying sheet music and listening to records in the New York City Public Library.

In 1949, he discovered his high voice, a trait that would define his career.  That same year, he taught himself to play the ukelele, which would become a key ingredient in his act.  By 1958, he was already performing in clubs throughout Gotham, singing his signature hit Tiptoe Through the Tulips.

Tiny Tim first came to national attention in 1968, when he appeared on the premiere broadcast of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, where he performed A-Tisket, A-Tasket and On the Good Ship Lollipop (watch both here).  A few months later, he made his first of 22 appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the most famous of which featured his wedding to first wife Victoria Budinger, whom he lovingly referred to as "Miss Vicki."  Over the course of his four-decade career, Tiny Tim released 14 albums, but he'd never match the success of his signature hit. 

In 1995, Tiny Tim married one of his fans, Sue Gardner ("Miss Sue"), his third and final bride.  He moved to her home state of Minnesota, and by this time, he'd been diagnosed with diabetes.  He revealed that he was, much to Gardner's dismay, impotent, due to poor blood circulation.  He suffered the first of two heart attacks while performing on stage at Massachusetts ukelele festival in September 1996.  Spectators later posted the video online, which you can see for yourself on YouTube. 

He suffered a second heart attack just two months later on November 30, while once again performing on stage, but this one would prove fatal.  When asked by his wife if he felt alright, he'd utter his final words to her, saying "no, I'm not."  He died later that night at the age of 64, passing on to the Other Side.

Unfortunately, you can't tiptoe through anything to reach his grave in Minneapolis, as Tiny Tim is entombed within the Memorial Mausoleum at Lakewood Cemetery.  A single ukelele was placed with him in the coffin.  There are pictures of this online, including this one (scroll down to the bottom).

Location: Room #117, Tier #2, Crypt F

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about Tiny Tim, take a voyage to your public library or Amazon.  It's all in books.
  
  
• Australia's Seven Network gave Tiny Tim his own TV special in 1970.  Although A Special Tiny Tim never aired on American television, you can watch it in its entirety on YouTube.  
  
  
• Tiny Tim twice ran for elected office as a member of the New Age Party.  In 1989, he threw his hat into the ring during the New York City mayoral race, but he later admitted that it was just a publicity stunt.  In 1992, he was Pat Paulsen's running mate in the presidential election, but the team never moved past the primary stage.
  
  
• The 1970 Saturday morning series Groovie Ghoulies included a character inspired by Tiny Tim, simply named Tiny.  The singing mummy was known for his song Slip-Slop Through the Swamp Weeds, an obvious riff of Tiny Tim's signature song.
  
  
• Until her passing in 2025, Miss Sue spearheaded a campaign for her husband's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Her application never received serious consideration, however, and seemingly died with her.

The John List Family Grave

 

"I have visited my friend's grave every two or three months for the last 18 years.  I am begging you.  This horrible guy murdered my best friend."

  --Friend of murder victim Frederick List, in a letter to America's Most Wanted.

In November 1971, John List, an accountant from Westfield, New Jersey, brutally murdered five people - his mother, his wife, and their three children, the youngest of whom was just 13 years old.  It was a pre-meditated act that he had planned so meticulously, it took more than a month for the bodies to be found and over 18 years for List to be captured.

By 1989, the case had gone cold.  Detective Barney Tracy, who had worked it from the beginning, approached the new FOX television series America's Most Wanted (AMW), asking them to do an episode on the case.  Series host John Walsh agreed to do the segment after hearing from a friend of one of the victims (see quote above).  Cameras rolled, and the case aired in May of that year.

The story recounted how List had lost his job earlier that year, unbeknownst to his family.  For more than a month, he put on a charade of going to work every day.  At the same time, List noticed what he perceived to be a decline in his family's values.  As a devout Christian, he disapproved of his wife's drug and alcohol addiction and of his daughter's more liberal attitude on life. 

With money growing tight, he feared that the family would be separated, and he didn't want his kids to be raised by strangers, not knowing what values they'd instill.  At this point, he rationed that the only solution was to send them to Heaven before it was too late.  He shot all five in cold blood and never looked back.

The Lists were laid to rest in a family plot at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey.  A single headstone bears most of their names.

The AMW segment included an age-enhanced bust created by forensic artist Frank Bender.  It was a near-perfect match for the 63-year-old List, who had assumed the name Bob Clark and was living with his new wife in Richmond, Virginia.  He was captured nearly two weeks later thanks to viewer tips.

List died in prison at the age of 82.  No one claimed his body, which is rumored to be buried in the prison cemetery.

Trivia

• If you want to learn more about the List family murders, take a voyage to your public library, or Amazon.  It's all in books.
  
  
• This grave is the final resting place for List's wife Helen and the three children, but the fifth murder victim, John's mother Alma, was buried with her husband in Frankenmuth, Michigan.
  
  
• In 1993, Robert Blake, who would later famously be accused of murder himself, landed the starring role in Judgment Day: The John List Story.  Helen was played by Beverly D'Angelo.  You can watch the film in its entirety on YouTube.
  
  
• The forensic bust created for America's Most Wanted is now on permanent display at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  Other items in their collection include John Wayne Gacy's Pogo costume, DB Cooper hijack money, and OJ Simpson's white Ford Bronco.
  
  
• Fairview Cemetery is also the final resting place of the voice herself, Whitney Houston, who's grave was once profiled by this blog.  Her daughter and parents are buried there as well.

This blog will return on June 27th.