Fred Duprez - A Little Bit Is A Whole Lot Better (1909)
Fred Duprez sings "A Little Bit Is A Whole Lot Better (Than Nothing At All)" on Indestructible Record 1078
Underneath the chestnut tree sat
Sammy Small and Sally Lee.
"You are the one that I can't see. You're just a little
small for me," said she. "I must wed a man that's tall.
Six foot tall or none at all! You're such a little bit, I fear."
Then Sammy said, "Look here, my dear, a little bit's
a whole lot better than nothing at all. If you can't get
the big things here, don't overlook the small. For it's
better to love a short man than never have loved at all!
And a little bit's a whole lot better than nothing at all."
Underneath this same old tree said Sammy Small to Sally Lee
"I've ten millions cash I guess--
Now you can have it all if you say Yes."
Sally dropped her head so shy, winked her eye, and said so sly,
"Ten million ought to last awhile"--then she said to him with a smile:
"A little bit's a whole lot better than nothing at all.
If you can't get the big things here, don't overlook the small.
For it's better to love a short man than never have loved at all.
And a little bit's a whole lot better than nothing at all."
Fred Duprez was born on September 6, 1884, in Detroit, Michigan.
He died on October 27, 1938, from a heart attack on board a ship going to England.
Fred was steaming back to England in late 1938 on the U.S.S. Herbert Hoover to look at rushes of his performance in the 1939 British film version of The Four Feathers--on the ship he suffered a fatal heart attack.
He worked in vaudeville and made recordings.
He also appeared in some films and worked in radio.
He was not a big star and is mostly forgotten today.
He liked to smoke cigars while performing.
He was the father of the actress June Duprez.
He performed “Dutch” (German) and “Hebrew” characters--not the type of material that appeals to people today.
Duprez also wrote a popular stage comedy titled The Wife’s Family, which was filmed five times (1931, 1932, 1933, 1941 and 1956). The plot is about husband wanting to surprise his wife with the purchase of a piano; she overhears and mistakenly thinks he’s talking about an illegitimate child.
Underneath the chestnut tree sat
Sammy Small and Sally Lee.
"You are the one that I can't see. You're just a little
small for me," said she. "I must wed a man that's tall.
Six foot tall or none at all! You're such a little bit, I fear."
Then Sammy said, "Look here, my dear, a little bit's
a whole lot better than nothing at all. If you can't get
the big things here, don't overlook the small. For it's
better to love a short man than never have loved at all!
And a little bit's a whole lot better than nothing at all."
Underneath this same old tree said Sammy Small to Sally Lee
"I've ten millions cash I guess--
Now you can have it all if you say Yes."
Sally dropped her head so shy, winked her eye, and said so sly,
"Ten million ought to last awhile"--then she said to him with a smile:
"A little bit's a whole lot better than nothing at all.
If you can't get the big things here, don't overlook the small.
For it's better to love a short man than never have loved at all.
And a little bit's a whole lot better than nothing at all."
Fred Duprez was born on September 6, 1884, in Detroit, Michigan.
He died on October 27, 1938, from a heart attack on board a ship going to England.
Fred was steaming back to England in late 1938 on the U.S.S. Herbert Hoover to look at rushes of his performance in the 1939 British film version of The Four Feathers--on the ship he suffered a fatal heart attack.
He worked in vaudeville and made recordings.
He also appeared in some films and worked in radio.
He was not a big star and is mostly forgotten today.
He liked to smoke cigars while performing.
He was the father of the actress June Duprez.
He performed “Dutch” (German) and “Hebrew” characters--not the type of material that appeals to people today.
Duprez also wrote a popular stage comedy titled The Wife’s Family, which was filmed five times (1931, 1932, 1933, 1941 and 1956). The plot is about husband wanting to surprise his wife with the purchase of a piano; she overhears and mistakenly thinks he’s talking about an illegitimate child.