Was Tiny for real?

Oh, yes. By the time he had reached adolesence, Tiny's well known eccentricities were already taking form. The guy who became famous to all the country- and much of the world- in 1968 already had a well established reputation as the oddest of ducks in his home neighborhood and in the Greenwich Village nightclubs where he honed his act. This is not to say that Tiny did not in part consciously mold his personna. From childhood, he had a driving desire to be famous, and he was no fool. He knew that people thought he was funny, and he played up those parts of his character which got him attention and helped him further his career. But at the same time it was genuinely him.The testimonies of his friends as well as private recorded tapes of Tiny hanging out and singing with buddies over the years reveal him as being as sweetly guileless and as full of strange and engaging opinions as the Tiny who appeared on television.