95 Facts About Paul Reubens

Paul Reubens was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.

Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and, for the next decade, Paul Reubens was completely committed to his character, doing all of his public appearances and interviews as Pee-wee.

Paul Reubens produced and wrote a feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure, directed by Tim Burton, which was a financial and critical success.

Between 1986 and 1990, Paul Reubens starred as Pee-wee in the CBS Saturday-morning children's program Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Paul Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida, in 1991.

Paul Reubens subsequently started giving interviews as himself rather than as Pee-wee.

Paul Reubens acted in numerous shows such as Murphy Brown, 30 Rock, Portlandia, and The Blacklist.

Paul Reubens revived The Pee-wee Herman Show, which he performed in Los Angeles and on Broadway, in 2010.

Paul Reubens co-wrote and starred in the Netflix original film Pee-wee's Big Holiday, reprising his role as Pee-wee Herman, in 2016.

Paul Reubens spent much of his childhood in Oneonta, New York.

Paul Reubens loved to watch reruns of I Love Lucy, which made him want to make people laugh.

At age five, Paul Reubens asked his father to build him a stage where he and his siblings would act out plays.

Paul Reubens attended Sarasota High School, where he was named president of the National Thespian Society.

Paul Reubens 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.

Paul Reubens was accepted at the California Institute of the Arts, where he graduated with a BFA in Theatre in 1973.

Paul Reubens remained a troupe member for six years, working with Bob McClurg, Edie McClurg, John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and Phil Hartman.

Hartman and Paul Reubens became friends, and they often wrote and worked together on material.

In 1980, Paul 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 Paul 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 Paul Reubens develop the character while another Groundling, John Paragon, helped write the show.

Pee-wee's voice originated in 1970 when Paul Reubens appeared in a production of Life with Father, where he was cast as one of the most obnoxious characters in the play.

Pee-wee's first name came from a one-inch Pee Wee brand harmonica Paul Reubens had as a child, and the surname Herman was the last name of an energetic boy Paul Reubens knew from his youth.

The origin of the red tie is less clear, as Paul Reubens claimed that "someone" handed him the "little kid bow tie" before a performance.

Paul 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.

Paul Reubens told the San Francisco Chronicle he believed that "the fix was in" because Gottfried was friends with one of the producers.

Paul 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".

Paul Reubens 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.

Paul Reubens's act had mainly positive reactions and quickly acquired a group of fans, despite being described as "bizarre", and Paul Reubens being described as "the weirdest comedian around".

When Pee-wee's fame started growing, Paul 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; Paul Reubens was trying to "get the public to think that that was a real person".

Halfway through writing the script, Paul Reubens noticed everyone at Warner Bros.

In 1986, CBS agreed to sign Paul 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.

Playhouse was designed as an educational yet entertaining and artistic show for children and, despite being greatly influenced by 1950s shows Paul 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.

Paul Reubens, always trying to make Pee-wee a positive role model, created a consciously moral show, one that would teach children the Golden Rule.

Paul 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 was the voice of the ship's computer in Flight of the Navigator.

Paul Reubens 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, Paul Reubens began working with Paramount Pictures on a sequel entitled Big Top Pee-wee.

Paul Reubens had originally agreed to do two more seasons after the third, and when CBS asked Paul Reubens about the possibility of a sixth season he declined, wanting to take a sabbatical.

Paul 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.

Paul Reubens cited an overworked crew and a decline in the show's quality in his decision against making a sixth season.

Paul Reubens appeared six times on the show between 1995 and 1997.

The project got stuck in development hell and was later dropped when Paul Reubens's ideas grew too elaborate and expensive, although Philip Rosenthal blamed NBC's negative response on Paul Reubens being on a "blacklist".

Paul Reubens starred in Dwight Yoakam's Western South of Heaven, West of Hell, portraying a rapist and killer.

In 2001, Paul Reubens had his first extended television role since Playhouse, as the host of the short-lived ABC game show You Don't Know Jack, based on the video game series of the same name.

Paul Reubens played a flamboyant hairdresser turned drug dealer in Ted Demme's 2001 drama Blow, which starred Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp.

Paul Reubens's performance was praised and he began receiving scripts for potential film projects.

The video has the band engaging in a comical soapbox car race, with Paul Reubens playing the bad guy who sabotages the race.

In 2007, Paul Reubens attended his own tribute at the SF Sketchfest, where he talked about his career with Ben Fong-Torres.

Paul Reubens did appear on the hit NBC series 30 Rock as an inbred Austrian prince, a character Tina Fey created for him.

Paul Reubens made three guest appearances on FX's series Dirt playing a washed-up, alcoholic reporter named Chuck Lafoon.

In June 2007, Paul Reubens appeared as Pee-wee Herman at the Spike TV's Guys Choice Awards for the first time since 1992.

In 2008, Paul Reubens was slated to appear as homeopathic antidepressant salesman Alfredo Aldarisio in the third episode of Pushing Daisies, but the role was recast with Raul Esparza.

Paul Reubens instead appeared in the role of Oscar Vibenius in the series' 7th and 9th episodes.

Also, during 2008, Paul Reubens did a PSA for Unscrew America, a website that aims to get people to change regular light bulbs for more energy-efficient ones in the form of CFLs and LED.

From 2009 to 2011, Paul Reubens voiced Bat-Mite in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

In January 2009, Paul Reubens hinted that negotiations were under way for his stage show to come back, and in August the return of The Pee-wee Herman Show was announced.

From 2012 to 2013, Paul Reubens contributed his voice talents to the animated series Tron: Uprising as Pavel.

In 2014, Paul Reubens appeared in TV on the Radio's music video for "Happy Idiot".

In February 2015, Netflix acquired the rights to produce a new Pee-wee film entitled Pee-wee's Big Holiday with Reubens and Judd Apatow producing the film, John Lee directing, and Reubens and Paul Rust writing the screenplay.

Paul Reubens went on to reprise his role as pilot droid Rex in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, a Star Wars-themed land that opened at Disneyland and Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in 2019.

Paul Reubens previously portrayed the character in the original Star Tours attraction in 1987 and Star Wars Rebels in 2014.

Paul Reubens voiced Ivor in Minecraft: Story Mode, which he claimed to be among his favorite voice acting roles.

When Paul Reubens started giving interviews again after his 2002 arrest, he talked about the two scripts he had written for future Pee-wee Herman films.

Paul Reubens once called his first script The Pee-wee Herman Story, describing it as a black comedy.

Paul Reubens further explained the film has many "Valley of the Dolls moments".

Paul Reubens thought this script would be the first one to start production, but in 2006 Paul Reubens announced he was to start filming his second script in 2007.

The second film, a family-friendly adventure, is called Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Movie by Paul Reubens, and follows Pee-wee and his Playhouse friends on a road-trip adventure, meaning that they would leave the house for the first time and go out into "Puppetland".

In January 2009, Paul Reubens told Gary Panter that the rejected first script of Pee-wee's Big Adventure could have a film deal very soon and that it would be "90 minutes of incredible beauty".

Paul Reubens said that using CGI for "updating" the puppets' looks could be an option, but it all depended on the budget the films would have.

Paul Reubens once mentioned the possibility of doing one of the two as an animated film along the lines of The Polar Express, which uses performance capture technology, incorporating the movements of live actors into animated characters.

Paul Reubens approached Pee-wee's Big Adventure director Tim Burton with one of the scripts and talked to Johnny Depp about the possibility of having him portray Pee-wee, but Burton was too busy, and Depp said he would have to think about it.

In January 2010, Paul Reubens reprised his role as Pee-wee and reused the set of Pee-wee's Playhouse for a short sketch on Funny or Die.

Paul Reubens attended the 1988 Academy Awards with Big Top Pee-wee co-star Valeria Golino, which stirred rumors that the two were dating.

Paul Reubens reportedly dated actress Debi Mazar in 1993 after he started attending film premieres with her.

Paul Reubens credited Mazar with ending his depression from his 1991 arrest.

In July 1991, Paul Reubens was arrested in Sarasota, Florida, for indecent exposure while watching a film at a porno theater.

When detectives examined his driver's license, Paul Reubens told them "I'm Pee-wee Herman" and offered to perform a children's benefit for the sheriff's office "to take care of this".

In 1971, Paul Reubens had been arrested in the same county for loitering and prowling near an adult theater, though charges had been dropped.

The 1991 arrest was widely covered and Paul Reubens became the subject of late-night talk show ridicule.

Paul Reubens's fans organized support rallies after CBS canceled the reruns, picketing in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

Paul Reubens appeared as Pee-wee only once in 1992, when he participated in a Grand Ole Opry tribute to Minnie Pearl.

In November 2002, while filming David LaChapelle's video for Elton John's "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore", Paul Reubens learned that police were at his home with a search warrant.

Paul Reubens was represented by Hollywood criminal defense lawyer Blair Berk.

Paul Reubens later stated that he was a collector of erotica, including films, muscle magazines, and a sizable collection of mostly homosexual vintage erotica, such as photographic studies of teen nudes.

Paul Reubens said that what the city attorney's office viewed as pornography he considered to be innocent art, and whether the memorabilia were pornographic images "depends on what one sees in those images".

Paul Reubens had not always thought of his character as one for children prior to the mid-1980s, when he became more selective of what should and should not be associated with Pee-wee.

Paul Reubens was a heavy smoker and hired security to make sure that children never saw him with a cigarette while in costume.

Paul Reubens refused to endorse candy bars and other unhealthy food; he said in 1999 that he had proposed "Ralston Purina Pee-wee Chow cereal", but the sugar-free product was not released due to a negative reaction in a blind taste test.

Paul Reubens published a book as Pee-wee in 1989 called Travels with Pee-Wee.

CBS aired reruns of Playhouse until July 1991, when Paul Reubens was arrested, pulling from their schedule the last two remaining reruns.

Paul Reubens discussed plans for a museum, which would contain many of the Playhouse sets and props he owned.

Paul Reubens took part in the filming of the documentary prior to his death in 2023.

Paul Reubens died on July 30,2023, at the age of 70, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Paul Reubens had been diagnosed six years earlier, but had not revealed his diagnosis to the public.

Paul Reubens was cremated, and his remains were interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.