American actor and comedian (1952–2023)
Paul Reubens (; né Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.
Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe the Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor. Reubens developed his Pee-wee character at the Groundlings. After a failed audition for "Saturday Night Live", Reubens debuted a stage show starring Pee-wee, "The Pee-wee Herman Show", in 1981. Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and, for the next decade, Reubens was completely committed to his character, doing all of his public appearances and interviews as Pee-wee. He produced and wrote a feature film, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" (1985), directed by Tim Burton, which was a financial and critical success. Its sequel, "Big Top Pee-wee" (1988), was less successful. Between 1986 and 1990, Reubens starred as Pee-wee in the CBS Saturday-morning children's program "Pee-wee's Playhouse".
Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida, in 1991. The arrest set off a chain reaction of national media attention, though he received support from people in the entertainment industry. The arrest postponed Reubens's involvement in major projects until 1999, when he appeared in several big-budget projects including "Mystery Men" (1999) and "Blow" (2001). Reubens subsequently started giving interviews as himself rather than as Pee-wee.
Reubens acted in numerous shows such as "Murphy Brown", "30 Rock", "Portlandia", and "The Blacklist". He revived "The Pee-wee Herman Show", which he performed in Los Angeles and on Broadway, in 2010. He co-wrote and starred in the Netflix original film "Pee-wee's Big Holiday", reprising his role as Pee-wee Herman, in 2016.
Reubens's Pee-wee character maintained an enduring popularity with both children and adults. "Playhouse" garnered 15 Emmy Awards during its initial run, and was aired again on late-night television in the 2000s, during which "TV Guide" dubbed it among the top ten cult classic television programs. Reubens died in July 2023 from cancer.
Early life and education.
Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, on August 27, 1952, and grew up in a Jewish family in Sarasota, Florida, where his parents, Judy (née Rosen) and Milton Rubenfeld, owned a lamp store. His mother was a teacher. His father was an automobile salesperson who had flown for Britain's Royal Air Force and for the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, and later became one of the founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. An Orthodox Jew, he was one of five Jewish pilots to fly against Arab forces in smuggled fighter planes.
Reubens's two younger siblings are Luke (born 1958), who is a dog trainer, and Abby (born 1953), who is an attorney and a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.
Reubens spent much of his childhood in Oneonta, New York. As a child, he frequented the Ringling Bros. and Barnum &amp; Bailey Circus, whose winter headquarters were in Sarasota. The circus atmosphere sparked Reubens's interest in entertainment and influenced his later work. He also loved to watch reruns of "I Love Lucy", which made him want to make people laugh. At age five, Reubens asked his father to build him a stage where he and his siblings would act out plays.
Reubens attended Sarasota High School, where he was named president of the National Thespian Society. He was accepted into Northwestern University's summer program for gifted high-school students, joined the local Asolo Theater, Players of Sarasota Theater, and appeared in several plays.
After high school graduation, he attended Plymouth State University for one semester, before attending Boston University, after which he began auditioning for acting schools. He was turned down by several schools, including the Juilliard School and twice by Carnegie Mellon University, before being accepted to the California Institute of the Arts, where he graduated with a BFA in Theatre in 1973. While in California, his early jobs included working in restaurant kitchens and as a Fuller Brush salesman.
Career.
1977–1979: Comedy beginnings.
In the 1970s, Reubens began performing at local comedy clubs and, starting in 1977, made 14 guest appearances on "The Gong Show", four of which as part of a boy–girl act he had developed with Charlotte McGinnis, called "The Hilarious Betty and Eddie". He soon joined the Los Angeles–based improvisational comedy team the Groundlings. He remained a troupe member for six years, working with Bob McClurg, Edie McClurg, John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and Phil Hartman. Hartman and Reubens became friends, and they often wrote and worked together on material. In 1980, Reubens had a small part as a waiter in "The Blues Brothers".
The character of "Pee-wee Herman" originated during a 1978 improvisation exercise with the Groundlings, where Reubens came up with the idea of a man who wanted to be a comic but was so inept at telling jokes that it was obvious to the audience that he would never make it. Fellow Groundling Phil Hartman afterwards helped Reubens develop the character while another Groundling, John Paragon, helped write the show. Despite being compared to other famous characters, such as Hergé's Tintin and Collodi's Pinocchio, Reubens said that there was no specific source for "Pee-wee" other than a collection of ideas. Pee-wee's voice originated in 1970 when Reubens appeared in a production of "Life with Father", where he was cast as one of the most obnoxious characters in the play. For this role, Reubens adopted a cartoon-like way of speaking, which became Pee-wee's voice.
Pee-wee's first name came from a one-inch Pee Wee brand harmonica Reubens had as a child, and the surname Herman was the last name of an energetic boy Reubens knew from his youth. The original small, gray suit Pee-wee wore had been handmade for Groundlings Director and Founder Gary Austin, who passed it on to Reubens. The origin of the red tie is less clear, as Reubens claimed that "someone" handed him the "little kid bow tie" before a performance.
1981–1984: "The Pee-wee Herman Show".
Reubens auditioned for the "Saturday Night Live" 1980–1981 season on the same day as comedian Gilbert Gottfried. Reubens told "Entertainment Weekly" hiring both was not an option because they were "the same type of performer", and he knew immediately Gottfried would get the job. He also told the "San Francisco Chronicle" he believed that "the fix was in" because Gottfried was friends with one of the producers. Reubens was so angry and bitter that he decided he would borrow money and start his own show in Los Angeles using the character he had been developing during the previous few years, "Pee-wee Herman".
With the help of other Groundlings like John Paragon, Phil Hartman, and Lynne Marie Stewart, Pee-wee acquired a small group of followers, and Reubens took his show to the Roxy Theatre where "The Pee-wee Herman Show" ran for five sellout months. He performed midnight shows for adults and weekly matinees for children, later entering the mainstream when HBO aired "The Pee-wee Herman Show" in 1981 as part of their series "On Location". Reubens also appeared as Pee-wee in the 1980 film "Cheech &amp; Chong's Next Movie". He again appeared in 1981's "Cheech &amp; Chong's Nice Dreams"; the end credits of the film billed him as "Hamburger Dude". Reubens's act had mainly positive reactions and quickly acquired a group of fans, despite being described as "bizarre", and Reubens being described as "the weirdest comedian around". Pee-wee was both "corny" and "hip", "retrograde" and "avant-garde".
When Pee-wee's fame started growing, Reubens started to move away from the spotlight, keeping his name under wraps and making all his public appearance and interviews in character while billing Pee-wee as playing himself; Reubens was trying to "get the public to think that that was a real person". Later on he would even prefer his parents be known only as Honey Herman and Herman Herman. In the early and mid-1980s, Reubens made several guest appearances on "Late Night with David Letterman" as Pee-wee Herman which gave Pee-wee an even bigger following. During the mid-1980s, Reubens traveled the United States with a whole new "The Pee-wee Herman Show", playing at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Caroline's in New York City and, in 1984, in front of a full Carnegie Hall.
1985: "Pee-wee's Big Adventure".
The success of "The Pee-wee Herman Show" prompted Warner Bros. to hire Reubens to write a script for a full-length Pee-wee Herman film. Reubens's original idea was to do a remake of "Pollyanna", which Reubens claimed was his favorite film. Halfway through writing the script, Reubens noticed everyone at Warner Bros. had a bike with them, which inspired Reubens to start on a new script with Phil Hartman. When Reubens and the producers of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" saw Tim Burton's work on "Vincent" (1982) and "Frankenweenie" (1984), they chose Burton to be the film's director. The film tells the story of Pee-wee Herman embarking on nationwide adventure in search of his stolen bicycle. The film went on to gross $40,940,662 domestically, recouping almost six times its $7 million budget. At the time of release in 1985, the film received mixed reviews, but "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" developed into a cult film.
1986–1991: "Pee-wee's Playhouse".
After seeing the success of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", the CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received cartoon series proposal. In 1986, CBS agreed to sign Reubens to act, produce, and direct his live-action children's program, "Pee-wee's Playhouse", with a budget of $325,000 per episode, the same price as a prime-time sitcom, and no creative interference from CBS; although CBS did request a few minor changes throughout the years. After casting actors like Laurence Fishburne and S. Epatha Merkerson, production began in New York City. The opening credits of the show were sung by Cyndi Lauper (under the pseudonym Ellen Shaw).
"Playhouse" was designed as an educational yet entertaining and artistic show for children and, despite being greatly influenced by 1950s shows Reubens watched as a child like "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show", "The Mickey Mouse Club", "Captain Kangaroo", and "Howdy Doody", it quickly acquired a dual audience of kids and grownups. Reubens, always trying to make Pee-wee a positive role model, created a consciously moral show, one that would teach children the Golden Rule. Reubens believed that children liked "Playhouse" because it was fast-paced, colorful and "never talked down to them"; while parents liked "Playhouse" because it reminded them of the past.
In 1986, Reubens (billed as Paul Mall) was the voice of the ship's computer in "Flight of the Navigator". In 1987, Reubens provided the voice for the pilot droid RX-24 a.k.a. Captain "Rex" in Star Tours, a "Star Wars"-themed motion simulator attraction at Disneyland and Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World, and Disneyland Paris. He also reprised the role of Pee-wee Herman in cameo appearances in the film "Back to the Beach" and TV show "Sesame Street", the latter of which made a cameo in "Playhouse".
Right after the success of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", Reubens began working with Paramount Pictures on a sequel entitled "Big Top Pee-wee". Reubens and George McGrath's script was directed by "Grease" director Randal Kleiser. The film was not as successful as its predecessor, receiving mild reviews and doing just over one third as well in the box office, earning only $15 million."Pee-wee's Playhouse" aired from September 13, 1986, until November 10, 1990. Reubens had originally agreed to do two more seasons after the third, and when CBS asked Reubens about the possibility of a sixth season he declined, wanting to take a sabbatical. Reubens had been suffering from burnout from playing Pee-wee full-time and had been warning that Pee-wee was temporary and that he had other ideas he would like to work on. The parties agreed to end the show after five seasons, which included 45 episodes and a Christmas Special. "Playhouse" garnered 22 Emmy Awards.
1992–2002: Public retreat and comeback.
After his 1991 arrest (see below), Reubens kept a low profile, dedicating himself to writing and collecting a variety of things, "everything from fake food, to lamps", although he did do some dubbing and took small parts in films such as 1992's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" (Reubens portrayed the Penguin's father) and 1996's "Matilda" and "Dunston Checks In". In 1993, he voiced the character Lock in another one of Burton's productions, "The Nightmare Before Christmas". "Pee-wee's Playhouse" had already ended by the time Reubens was arrested. He