By Mona Hatfield

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Paul Reubens (/ˈruːbənz/; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children’s entertainer. He was known for his 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. In 1982, Reubens began appearing in a show about a character he had been developing for years. The show was called The Pee-wee Herman Show, and ran for five sold-out months; HBO also produced a successful special about it. 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. His feature film, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), directed by Tim Burton, was a financial and critical success, and soon developed into a cult film. 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.

Thereafter, Reubens decided to take a sabbatical from Pee-wee. In July 1991, Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida. The arrest set off a chain reaction of national media attention that changed the general public’s view of Reubens and Pee-wee. 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.

After 2006, Reubens made cameos and appearances in numerous projects, such as Reno 911! (2006), 30 Rock (2007), Pushing Daisies (2007), Life During Wartime (2009), The Blacklist (2014–2015), Accidental Love (2015) and Mosaic (2018). He also played the voice role of Pavel in the Disney XD television series Tron: Uprising (2012–2013). Since the 1990s, Reubens worked on two possible Pee-wee films: one dark and adult, dubbed The Pee-wee Herman Story, the other a family-friendly epic adventure called Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Movie. In 2010, he starred on Broadway in The Pee-wee Herman Show. In 2016, Reubens co-wrote and starred in the Netflix original film Pee-wee’s Big Holiday, reprising his role as Pee-wee Herman.