Paul Reubens

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.

Paul Reubens (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 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 (Rosen) and Milton Rubenfeld, owned a lamp store.

His mother was a teacher.

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 & 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.

Reubens moved to California, where he worked in restaurant kitchens and as a Fuller Brush salesman.

Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe the Groundlings in the 1970s, and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor.

It was with the Groundlings that Reubens developed the Pee-wee character.

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, John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and Phil Hartman.

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

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.

In 1980, Reubens had a small part as a waiter in The Blues Brothers.

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.

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

Its sequel, Big Top Pee-wee (1988), was less successful.

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.

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.

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.