Big Tiny Little died he was 79

Dudley 'Tiny' Little Jr. ^[1] died he was 79. Little was an American musician who appeared on The Lawrence Welk Show from 1955 to 1959. His primary instrument was the piano.

(August 31, 1930 – March 3, 2010)

Born in Worthington, Minnesota,^[1] and the son of a prominent musician and bandleader, Tiny Little Sr.. Big Tiny Little first took up playing piano at the age of five; becoming both a honky-tonk,ragtime pianist and playing other instruments such as the organ, bass horn and bass fiddle.^[1] After playing in his father's band for a while, he joined the Air Force and did a tour in the Far East . He became a member of Lawrence Welk's famous Champagne music makers, just one month after Welk's national TV debut in 1955. A regular feature of Welk's popular show, Tiny's outstanding keyboard artistry has earned him millions of fans from coast to coast.

After his tenure on the show, he went solo again; recording over 45 albums and making guest appearances on several television programs over the years. More recently, he played with Mary Lou Metzger, Jack Imel, Ralna English, Ava Barber and Dick Dale in the touring Live Lawrence Welk Show. Little also performed at President Reagan's inaugural balls in 1985, and returned to television in the PBS special; Lawrence Welk: Milestones and Memories, which featured a reunion of stars from the Welk show.

On the personal side, Tiny,( Dudley Richard Little) married and divorced 3 times. He had 7 children, from first two marriages, who he chose not to support emotional or financially. His Father, Tiny Sr, who physically and emotionally abused Dudley as a child, disowned him because of it. In fact , Tiny Sr. replaced Dudley with Dudley's first 5 children in his Will. Dudley returned the favor by writing all of his 7 children out of his Will. He battled problems with his weight, alcohol , gambling and poor money management and later in life , throat cancer and diabetes. He went bankrupt 3 times and at his death he was virtually penniless. He lived outside of California from 1964 till his death due to non compliance of Divorce settlement with his first wife, Marjorie. He lived in fear that his first wife would file papers on him every time he took on work in California. Marjorie, raised in a strict Catholic tradition, never did file, never did date another man, never did remarry. She still lives a few miles away from where their marriage ended. In pursuit of his career, he missed all of his children's formative years. The children as adults , all tried in vain to reconnect with their father, but he never let them back in. His music became his family and anyone associated with his music, his friend.

He lived in Carson City, Nevada and died there in March 2010, aged 79.^[1]

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