Paul Reubens, Pee-wee Herman Actor, Dies at 70 After Private Bout of Cancer
Paul Reubens, who disappeared behind a tight gray suit and bright red bow tie to create and star as the awkward man-child Pee-wee Herman on stage, on a groundbreaking kids TV show and on the big screen, has died. He was 70.
His death in Los Angeles was announced Monday on his official Facebook page.
“Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy and belief in the importance of kindness,” a statement
read. “Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. A gifted and prolific talent, he will forever live in the comedy pantheon and in our hearts as a treasured friend and man of remarkable character and generosity of spirit.”
Reubens created Pee-wee (named for a brand of harmonica he had when he was a kid) while with the Los Angeles comedy troupe The Groundlings in 1978, then took the character to the stage after failing to land a spot on
Saturday Night Live in 1980. His performance was captured for an HBO special in 1981.
Reubens showed up in the Cheech & Chong films
Next Movie (1980) and
Nice Dreams (1981) and made the first of his many bizarre appearances on
Late Night With David Letterman — always in character and keeping his real identity a secret — in 1982.
He starred as Pee-wee during a 22-city tour of the U.S., including a stop at Carnegie Hall in 1984, and then in Warner Bros.’
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), directed by Tim Burton. That resulted in a sequel, Randal Kleiser’s
Big Top Pee-wee (1988).
His career suffered a serious setback in July 1991 when he was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida. In November 1991, he pleaded no contest to the charges in Sarasota. As part of his deal, he did 75 hours of community service and created and financed antidrug public-service announcements.
In Los Angeles, Reubens was charged in 2002 with misdemeanor possession of obscene material improperly depicting a child under the age of 18 in sexual conduct. Those charges were eventually dropped. He would say that he was a collector of erotica and didn’t want anyone “for one second to think that I am titillated by images of children.”
Reubens played the Penguin’s father in Burton’s
Batman Returns and appeared in another 1992 film,
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He would also work on the big screen in
Dunston Checks In (1996),
Mystery Men (1999) — as a superhero whose power is flatulence — Ted Demme’s
Blow (2001) — as a drug dealer in a rare dramatic turn — and Todd Solondz’s
Life During Wartime (2009).
Reubens recurred on
Murphy Brown as Andrew J. Lansing III, the nephew of Garry Marshall's network president (he landed a non-Pee-wee Emmy nom for that), from 1995-97 and on Steven Soderbergh's
Mosaic as JC Schiffer, a confidant of Sharon Stone’s character, in 2018. He also appeared on TV on
Everybody Loves Raymond,
Reno 911!,
Pushing Daisies,
30 Rock,
What We Do in the Shadows,
The Blacklist and
Portlandia.
He was a voice actor on projects including Burton’s
The Nightmare Before Christmas,
Star Wars Rebels,
Robot Chicken,
Family Guy,
TRON: Uprising,
Smurfs,
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,
Minecraft: Story Mode and
Call of Duty.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/paul-reubens-dead-pee-wee-herman-1235547913/