Paul Reubens

Paul Reubens (born Paul Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor and comedian best known for inventing the character Pee-wee Herman. He was born in Peekskill, New York, and grew up in Oneonta, New York, and Sarasota, Florida. In the 1970s, he joined the Groundlings, a Los Angeles improv troupe, and began his career as a stage actor and improvisational comedian. It was at the Groundlings that he created Pee-wee. After failing to land a spot on *Saturday Night Live*—he was among twenty-two finalists, and thought his career was over when Gilbert Gottfried got the job—Reubens launched a stage show, *The Pee-wee Herman Show*, in 1981. The character quickly became a cult figure, and for the next decade Reubens fully committed to the role, doing all public appearances and interviews as Pee-wee. He co-wrote and produced the film *Pee-wee's Big Adventure* (1985), directed by Tim Burton, which was a hit with critics and audiences. Its sequel, *Big Top Pee-wee* (1988), did not do as well. From 1986 to 1990, he starred as Pee-wee on the CBS Saturday-morning show *Pee-wee's Playhouse*.

In 1991, Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure at an adult theater in Sarasota. The arrest got huge national media coverage, and while some colleagues in entertainment supported him, it badly damaged his career. He kept a low profile for most of the 1990s, then returned to big-budget films like *Mystery Men* (1999) and *Blow* (2001). After that, he started giving interviews as himself instead of as Pee-wee. In 2002, he was investigated and charged with child pornography offenses, which he strongly denied. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor obscenity charge as part of a plea deal.

Reubens appeared on many TV shows, including *Murphy Brown*, *30 Rock*, *Portlandia*, and *The Blacklist*. He brought back the Pee-wee character in the 2010s, performing on stage in *The Pee-wee Herman Show* in Los Angeles and on Broadway, and co-writing and starring in the Netflix film *Pee-wee's Big Holiday* (2016). The Pee-wee character remained popular with both kids and adults. *Pee-wee's Playhouse* won 15 Emmy Awards during its original run and was rebroadcast on late-night TV in the 2000s, with *TV Guide* calling it one of the top ten cult classic TV 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. His parents, Judy (née Rosen, 1928–2019) and Milton Rubenfeld (1919–2004), owned a lamp store. His mother was a teacher. His father sold cars and had flown for Britain's Royal Air Force and the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, later becoming 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 who flew against Arab forces in smuggled fighter planes. Reubens had two younger siblings: Luke (born 1958), a dog trainer, and Abby (born 1953), a lawyer and board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.

He spent his early childhood in Oneonta, New York, then moved with his parents to Sarasota, Florida at age nine. As a child, he often went to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, whose winter headquarters were in Sarasota. The circus atmosphere sparked his interest in entertainment and influenced his later work. He also loved watching reruns of *I Love Lucy*, which made him want to make people laugh. At age five, he asked his father to build him a stage where he and his siblings could act out plays.

Reubens attended Sarasota High School, where he became 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 and Players of Sarasota Theater, and performed in several plays. After high school, he spent one semester at Plymouth State University, then attended Boston University. When he auditioned for acting schools, Juilliard and Carnegie Mellon turned him down. He was accepted at the California Institute of the Arts, graduating with a BFA in Theatre in 1973. As a student, *The New Yorker* described him as "the wildest of a wild bunch." He acted in a student film in Cher-inspired mermaid drag and kissed all his classmates at a Valentine's Day kissing booth. Some of his CalArts classmates included Katey Sagal, Michael Richards, and David Hasselhoff, who was his roommate for a time. Sagal called Reubens her "fantastically colorful best buddy" down the hall, who would listen to her play piano. She remembered his dorm room was like a real-life *Pee-wee's Playhouse*: "He was the only one with a decorated dorm room, everyone else had posters with Scotch tape, and you'd go to his room and it was a party."

**Career**

After graduating, his early jobs in California included working in restaurant kitchens and as a Fuller Brush salesman.

**1977–1979: Comedy beginnings**

In the 1970s, Reubens started performing at local comedy clubs. Beginning in 1977, he made 14 guest appearances on *The Gong Show*, four of which featured a boy-girl act he created with Charlotte McGinnis called The Hilarious Betty and Eddie. During his time on *The Gong Show*, he introduced a Native American lounge-singer character named Jay Longtoe, wearing a sequined loincloth and feathered headdress. In the documentary *Pee-wee as Himself*, Reubens said, "This doesn't say much for the audience, but the audience ate it up and went crazy. So I was like, Hey..."