Paul Reubens(1952-2023)
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Paul Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld on August 27, 1952 in Peekskill, New York, to Judy (Rosen), a teacher, and Milton Rubenfeld, a car salesman who had flown for the air forces of the U.S., U.K., and Israel, becoming one of the latter country's pioneering pilots. Paul grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where his parents owned a lamp store. During
winters, The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus called
Sarasota home, and young Paul counted such big-top families as the
Wallendas and the Zacchinis among his neighbors. When he was
11-years-old, he joined the local Asolo Theater, and during the next
six years, he appeared in a variety of plays. After graduating from
Sarasota High School in 1970, he attended Boston University for one
year before deciding to seek his fortune as Paul Reubens in Hollywood,
where he enrolled as an acting major at the California Institute of the
Arts and accepted a string of pay-the-rent jobs ranging from pizza chef
to Fuller Brush salesman.
In the mid 1970s, his acting career grew slowly and steadily with small
roles in theater productions, gigs at local comedy clubs and four guest
appearances on The Gong Show (1976). During this time of education/employment, he
joined an improvisational comedy troupe called The Groundlings. The
popular gang of yuksters, whose roster has included Conan O'Brien, Lisa Kudrow,
the late Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, and Julia Sweeney, wrung laughs from audiences
with skits starring scads of imaginative, self-created characters.
Among Reubens's contributions to this comedic community were a
philandering husband named Moses Feldman, an Indian chief named Jay
Longtoe, and, the character he became best known for, Pee-Wee Herman, who debuted in 1978.
Pee-Wee was a funny man-child of indeterminate age and sexuality who
created a sarcastic enthusiasm for the popular culture of the '50s and
'60s. The geeky character's wardrobe consisted of a gray suit, a white
short-sleeved shirt accessorized with a red clip-on bow tie, and white
patent-leather loafers. He wore his jet-black hair military short with
a defiant tuft in front, and he accentuated his lily-white complexion
with pink cheeks and red lipstick. Reubens drew inspiration for
Pee-Wee's geeky behavior from a youth he had attended summer camp with,
and derived his creation's boyish voice from a character he played as a
child actor. Pee-Wee appeared for only 10 minutes of The Groundlings
show, but he nonetheless built up a considerable following and turned
out to be a star of the '80s and early '90s. The Pee-Wee Herman Show (1981), ran for five
sellout months at the Los Angeles's Roxy nightclub, and HBO taped the
performance and aired it as a special.
Now a genuine comedy-circuit star, he became a frequent guest of
David Letterman and a favorite at Caroline's in New York. In 1984, he sold out
Carnegie Hall. He later auditioned for the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975), but when
that didn't turn out as planned, he started writing a feature-length
screenplay for Pee-Wee to star in, and asked friend Tim Burton to direct.
Released to wildly divergent reviews, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), followed its star
cross-country in a madcap search for his beloved, stolen bike. The $7
million picture ended up grossing $45 million. That following year, CBS
which had been losing children's audiences to cable programming, was
interested in finding something to shore up its Saturday Morning
lineup. The network company signed him to act/produce and to direct its
live-action children's program called Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986). They doled out an
eye-popping budget of $325,000 per episode - the same price as a prime-
time sitcom. Reubens received complete creative control, albeit with
three minor exceptions. During its five-year-run on CBS, he never
appeared in general as himself. He even granted printed interviews in
full Pee-Wee regalia.
The image of Pee-Wee was broken on July 26, 1991. On his summer
vacation, Reubens was visiting his parents in Sarasota and sought
escape from boredom by catching a showing of the X-rated film, Nurse
Nancy. He fell victim to a police sting operation and was arrested for
sex charges when detectives allegedly saw him playing with his private
parts. He was released on $219 bail and nobody realized what had
happened until somebody recognized him beneath his long hair and
goatee. The media went berserk: 'Kids show star arrested for indecent
exposure'. Because of his behavior, CBS dropped the Playhouse and
related merchandise was released from its shelves. He agreed to pay a
$50 fine plus $85 in court costs to Sarasota County, and he produced a
30 second public service message for the Partnership For Drug-Free
America commercial. As part of the deal, the county sealed all legal
papers relating to the actor's arrest and didn't leave Reubens with a
criminal record. The scandal marked the near death of Pee-Wee
Herman. Reubens appeared as his favorite character for the last time at
that Autumn's MTV Music Video Awards. The enthusiastic reception was
not surprising, as he had received 15 thousand supportive letters
during his arrest. Regardless, he had recently made a promise not to
play Pee-Wee anymore and used his arrest as an chance to portray other
roles. A new feature length film by Netflix available beginning March 18, 2016
allowed Reubens to show Pee-Wee fans his character again in Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016).
Reubens has
landed a series of offbeat character roles. One year after he was taken
into custody, he appeared in Burton's Batman Returns (1992) as the Penguin's unloving
father, and as a vampire henchman in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). Subsequent jobs have
included a voice over for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), a healthy stint as
Andrew J. Lansing III on Murphy Brown (1988), and roles in the feature films,
Dunston Checks In (1996), Matilda (1996), Buddy (1997) and Mystery Men (1999). He also signed to emcee a new
game show based on the popular 'You Don't Know Jack' CD-ROM
version.
winters, The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus called
Sarasota home, and young Paul counted such big-top families as the
Wallendas and the Zacchinis among his neighbors. When he was
11-years-old, he joined the local Asolo Theater, and during the next
six years, he appeared in a variety of plays. After graduating from
Sarasota High School in 1970, he attended Boston University for one
year before deciding to seek his fortune as Paul Reubens in Hollywood,
where he enrolled as an acting major at the California Institute of the
Arts and accepted a string of pay-the-rent jobs ranging from pizza chef
to Fuller Brush salesman.
In the mid 1970s, his acting career grew slowly and steadily with small
roles in theater productions, gigs at local comedy clubs and four guest
appearances on The Gong Show (1976). During this time of education/employment, he
joined an improvisational comedy troupe called The Groundlings. The
popular gang of yuksters, whose roster has included Conan O'Brien, Lisa Kudrow,
the late Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, and Julia Sweeney, wrung laughs from audiences
with skits starring scads of imaginative, self-created characters.
Among Reubens's contributions to this comedic community were a
philandering husband named Moses Feldman, an Indian chief named Jay
Longtoe, and, the character he became best known for, Pee-Wee Herman, who debuted in 1978.
Pee-Wee was a funny man-child of indeterminate age and sexuality who
created a sarcastic enthusiasm for the popular culture of the '50s and
'60s. The geeky character's wardrobe consisted of a gray suit, a white
short-sleeved shirt accessorized with a red clip-on bow tie, and white
patent-leather loafers. He wore his jet-black hair military short with
a defiant tuft in front, and he accentuated his lily-white complexion
with pink cheeks and red lipstick. Reubens drew inspiration for
Pee-Wee's geeky behavior from a youth he had attended summer camp with,
and derived his creation's boyish voice from a character he played as a
child actor. Pee-Wee appeared for only 10 minutes of The Groundlings
show, but he nonetheless built up a considerable following and turned
out to be a star of the '80s and early '90s. The Pee-Wee Herman Show (1981), ran for five
sellout months at the Los Angeles's Roxy nightclub, and HBO taped the
performance and aired it as a special.
Now a genuine comedy-circuit star, he became a frequent guest of
David Letterman and a favorite at Caroline's in New York. In 1984, he sold out
Carnegie Hall. He later auditioned for the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975), but when
that didn't turn out as planned, he started writing a feature-length
screenplay for Pee-Wee to star in, and asked friend Tim Burton to direct.
Released to wildly divergent reviews, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), followed its star
cross-country in a madcap search for his beloved, stolen bike. The $7
million picture ended up grossing $45 million. That following year, CBS
which had been losing children's audiences to cable programming, was
interested in finding something to shore up its Saturday Morning
lineup. The network company signed him to act/produce and to direct its
live-action children's program called Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986). They doled out an
eye-popping budget of $325,000 per episode - the same price as a prime-
time sitcom. Reubens received complete creative control, albeit with
three minor exceptions. During its five-year-run on CBS, he never
appeared in general as himself. He even granted printed interviews in
full Pee-Wee regalia.
The image of Pee-Wee was broken on July 26, 1991. On his summer
vacation, Reubens was visiting his parents in Sarasota and sought
escape from boredom by catching a showing of the X-rated film, Nurse
Nancy. He fell victim to a police sting operation and was arrested for
sex charges when detectives allegedly saw him playing with his private
parts. He was released on $219 bail and nobody realized what had
happened until somebody recognized him beneath his long hair and
goatee. The media went berserk: 'Kids show star arrested for indecent
exposure'. Because of his behavior, CBS dropped the Playhouse and
related merchandise was released from its shelves. He agreed to pay a
$50 fine plus $85 in court costs to Sarasota County, and he produced a
30 second public service message for the Partnership For Drug-Free
America commercial. As part of the deal, the county sealed all legal
papers relating to the actor's arrest and didn't leave Reubens with a
criminal record. The scandal marked the near death of Pee-Wee
Herman. Reubens appeared as his favorite character for the last time at
that Autumn's MTV Music Video Awards. The enthusiastic reception was
not surprising, as he had received 15 thousand supportive letters
during his arrest. Regardless, he had recently made a promise not to
play Pee-Wee anymore and used his arrest as an chance to portray other
roles. A new feature length film by Netflix available beginning March 18, 2016
allowed Reubens to show Pee-Wee fans his character again in Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016).
Reubens has
landed a series of offbeat character roles. One year after he was taken
into custody, he appeared in Burton's Batman Returns (1992) as the Penguin's unloving
father, and as a vampire henchman in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). Subsequent jobs have
included a voice over for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), a healthy stint as
Andrew J. Lansing III on Murphy Brown (1988), and roles in the feature films,
Dunston Checks In (1996), Matilda (1996), Buddy (1997) and Mystery Men (1999). He also signed to emcee a new
game show based on the popular 'You Don't Know Jack' CD-ROM
version.
Remembering Paul Reubens (1952-2023)
Remembering Paul Reubens (1952-2023)
We look back on the life and career of Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman.