Tiny Tim – King for a Day

Name: Tiny Tim – King for a Day
Director: Johan von Sydow
Released: 2020

Johan von Sydow 2020

November 1996: Tiny Tim collapses on stage in Minneapolis while singing Tiptoe Through the Tulips, his 1968 hit. His third wife, Miss Sue, holds him as his heart stops. Our story begins here…
Tiny Tim’s life flashes before our eyes through his diaries, TV performances, and interviews. The narrative moves fluidly through time, focusing on the golden years of 1968-1970, culminating in his peak fame.
Herbert Khaury’s rise as Tiny Tim is a fairytale. Born in 1932, he was an outcast, the only child of a Jewish mother and a Lebanese Catholic father. His mother tried to institutionalize him. After a sign from God, he sang in falsetto in the 1950s, switching from guitar to ukulele. His life changed.

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Running Time:

58 / 75 min.

Spoken Languages:

English

Subtitles:

English

Directors:

Johan von Sydow

Producers:

David Herdies, Michael Krotkiewski, Justin Martell

Cinematographers:

Lars Erlend Tubaas Øymo, Damir Kudin, Johan von Sydow

Editors:

Stefan Sundlöf, Bernhard Winkler, Nils Rydell, Georg Götmark

Production Companies:

Momento Film for SVT in ass. with Juno Films, DR, NRK, RUV, Channel 8

Middle Eastern Studies

Music

Personal Story

Religion and Spiritual..

Society

Press

Variety

The enticing documentary “Tiny Tim: King for a Day” captures the delightful insanity of how Tiny Tim, the kind of elfin novelty act you could imagine getting booed off the stage at an open-mic night, became, for a while, the biggest star on the planet

Owen Gleiberman
Rolling Stone

...watching [King for a Day], you feel glad that such a genuine oddball lived his particular dream and never revealed any public bitterness over the arc of his life. His legacy, it turns out, was the last thing from tiny

David Browne
LA Times

...never less than riveting

Noel Murray
The Saturday Evening Post

Documentarian Johan von Sydow’s nostalgic, funny, tuneful, and ultimately tragic biography of Tim...is as much a portrait of Americans’ fickle fancies as it is an account of the performer’s lifetime of undulating fortunes

Bill Newcott
RogerEbert.com

The documentary is lovingly and efficiently put together by director Johan von Sydow, who covers the life story of the high-voiced, ukulele-strumming, 'Tiptoe Through the Tulips' entertainer

Sheila O'Malley

Festival Participation

Millennium Docs Against Gravity - 2021
Nominee Chopin's Nose Award

Additional Materials

Distribution Company

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