Paul Reubens

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Paul Reubens as "Pee-wee Herman" at the 1988 Academy Awards. Photo by Alan Light.
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Paul Reubens as "Pee-wee Herman" at the 1988 Academy Awards. Photo by Alan Light.

Paul Reubens (born Paul Rubenfeld on August 27, 1952, in Peekskill, New York), is an American actor, writer, and comedian, best known professionally for his character "Pee-wee Herman".

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[edit] Early development

Paul Rubenfeld grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where his Jewish-American 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 Acchinis among his neighbors. The circus sparked his interest in entertainment. 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 Yeshiva 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 1970s, Reubens performed at local comedy clubs and made four guest appearances on The Gong Show. He soon joined the Los Angeles-based improvisational comedy team The Groundlings and remained a member for six years, working with Bob McClurg, John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and Phil Hartman. Hartman and Reubens became friends, often writing and working on material together. Reubens wrote sketches and developed his improvisational skills. He also forged a significant friendship and working relationship with Hartman, with whom he developed the "Pee-wee Herman" character.

In 1977 The Groundlings staged a performance in which its members created characters that one might see in a comedy club. Paul decided he was going to be the guy that everyone immediately knew would never make it as a comic. Part of which was because Reubens couldn't remember jokes in real life - he had trouble remembering punch lines and couldn't properly piece information in sequential order. Reubens says that Pee Wee Herman was born that night out of this performance.

Pee Wee Herman's signature grey suit was originally a suit that Paul had barrowed from the Groundlings director, Gary Austin. The suit was custom made for Austin by a man that goes by the name Mr. J. The small red bow tie was given to Reubens by an acquaintance.

The inspiration for the name came from a Pee-wee brand miniature harmonica and the surname of an energetic boy Reubens knew from his youth[1]. Paul thought the name Pee Wee Herman was a name that nobody could ever make up, he thought it sounded like a real name a parent would give a child that they didn't really care about.

Pee Wee was an eccentric man-child in a gray houndstooth suit which is a size too small for him, a short sleeved white shirt, and a small red clip on bow tie, with a buzz cut and a perpetually giddy disposition. His distinctive guttural "Ha Ha Ha" followed by a high-pitched "Haw Haw Haw" laugh became the character's catch phrase, as has his insult comeback "I know you are, but what am I?"

In addition to the Pee-wee character, Reubens has played a number of other characters, notably appearing on the television show, Murphy Brown, as a recurring character, Lansing's nephew Andrew, who was one of Murphy's 93 secretaries.

[edit] The Pee-wee Herman Show

DVD cover
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DVD cover
Main article: The Pee-wee Herman Show

Reubens auditioned for Saturday Night Live for the 1980-1981 season (along with future stars Jim Carrey, John Goodman, Dom Irrera, and Robert Townsend), but wasn't accepted into the cast. Instead, he started a stage show with the Herman character. Originally, Reubens imbued "Pee-wee" with a sexuality that was later toned down as the character made the transition from raucous night club to children's television (though sexual innuendo was still readily apparent, especially with the "Cowboy Curtis" and "Miss Yvonne" segments; Curtis was played by actor Laurence Fishburne and Miss Yvonne was played by Lynne Marie Stewart). The stage show was immortalized by HBO when The Pee-wee Herman Show was aired in 1981.

The show featured the writing and acting of Groundlings alums Phil Hartman and John Paragon, who would both reprise their characters on Pee-wee's Playhouse. The Pee-wee Herman Show played for five sellout months at The Roxy Theatre in L.A., whereupon HBO filmed it and aired it as a special on September 11, 1981.

In 1980, Reubens landed a small role in the film The Blues Brothers. He also appeared in Cheech and Chong's Cheech & Chong's Next Movie in 1980 and Nice Dreams in 1981, and Meatballs Part II in 1984 with Misty Rowe.

Following the success of The Pee Wee Herman show, in the early and mid 1980s Reubens made several guest appearances on Late Night with David Letterman as Pee Wee Herman. These performances gave Pee Wee an even bigger following than he had with his HBO special. In 1983, Pee Wee Herman traveled the United States with The Pee Wee Herman Show with highly publicized stops at the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and Caroline's New York City.

In 1984 Pee Wee Herman sold out New York City's Carnegie Hall. Paul Reubens went on to say that it was his appearances on David Letterman's show that made Pee Wee a star.

[edit] Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Main article: Pee-wee's Big Adventure

While on a Warner Bros. set, Reubens noticed that most of the people rode around on bicycles, and asked when he would get his. Warner Bros. presented him with a refurbished 1940s Schwinn; Reubens then abandoned the Pee-wee Herman script he was writing in favor of one about Herman's love for his bike and his efforts to locate it once it was stolen. Hartman, Reubens and Michael Varhol co-wrote the script for Pee-wee's Big Adventure, and in 1985 the film, directed by Tim Burton, was released. Reubens was the originator of the "Pee-wee dance" in the movie, and he had performed it publicly many times prior to the making of the film.

[edit] Pee-wee's Playhouse era

Main article: Pee-wee's Playhouse

The following year (1986), Pee-wee (along with Hartman) found a home on the small screen with the Saturday-morning children's program Pee-wee's Playhouse on the American CBS network for the next five years (Hartman, Shirley Stoler, Johann Carlo, Gilbert Lewis and Roland Rodriguez only appeared on the show for the first 13 episodes before their characters were dropped from the show). In the case of Lewis, he was fired and a new actor, William Marshall, was hired to play the King of Cartoons. The show starred Pee-wee living in a wild and wacky house, known as the Playhouse, full of talking chairs, animals, robots, and other puppet and human characters. During the time Pee-wee's Playhouse aired it garnered 22 Emmy Awards.

[edit] First arrest

On July 26, 1991, Reubens was arrested in Sarasota, Florida, for exposing himself in an adult theater. The news media went into a frenzy and the scandal marked the near-death of the character "Pee-wee Herman," reducing both the actor and the persona to a ubiquitous punchline. Although the series Pee-wee's Playhouse had already ended by that time, CBS reacted by dropping its reruns from their lineup. Reubens made a deal with the Sarasota County court: in exchange for a fine and a few public service announcements, he was given a clean record.

Reubens appeared as Pee-wee for the last time in the September 5, 1991, MTV Video Music Awards, where he was given a standing ovation when Pee-wee asked the audience, "Heard any good jokes lately?"

[edit] Second arrest

Reubens mugshot following arrest for possession of alleged child pornography
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Reubens mugshot following arrest for possession of alleged child pornography

Reubens was arrested again in 2002 in connection with an investigation involving child pornography. Public news stories concerning his case cast doubt upon the suggestion that Reubens intentionally acquired child pornography, as he stated that he was a collector of "erotic artwork" and that he had a sizable collection of vintage erotica with samples dating back to the 18th century. On March 22, 2004, child pornography charges against him were dropped by Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo after Reubens pleaded guilty to a separate "misdemeanor obscenity" charge.[2]

According to NNDB.com, "The DA waited 364 days (one day before the statute of limitations would have run out) and then alleged that some of it was 'child pornography' -- decades-old physique poses, old art photos, and yellowed nudist magazines. Some of the nude photos were of minors -- when the pictures were taken, but most of the models would have been dead of old age before Reubens was born. All of the photos, Reubens maintained, were legal when they were first published. The charges were reduced to 'obscenity', and Reubens pleaded guilty and paid a $100 fine in exchange for probation." [3]

Said Reubens: "Personally, I think we're living in a very scary time. Do we let the legal system decide in a courtroom what's obscene and what's not obscene? I didn't want to be in a situation where there was a possibility I could go to jail... I mean, that just seemed insane to me."

"One thing I want to make very, very clear, I don't want anyone for one second to think that I am titillated by images of children. It's not me. You can say lots of things about me. And you might. The public may think I'm weird. They may think I'm crazy or anything that anyone wants to think about me. That's all fine. As long as one of the things you're not thinking about me is that I'm a pedophile. Because that's not true."

[edit] Current activity

Reubens currently resides in the Hollywood Hills area of Los Angeles, California.

After 1991, Reubens drifted from public view. He made cameos in Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and in Batman Returns playing The Penguin's blue-blood father. The latter film reunited him with his Big Adventure director, Tim Burton, and co-star Diane Salinger. He performed in another Tim Burton production, 1993's The Nightmare Before Christmas in the role of Lock. After that, he took small parts in Matilda and Dunston Checks In.

In 1995, he landed a recurring role on the hit TV series Murphy Brown as the network president's scheming nephew and Murphy's 76th secretary. The role earned him rave reviews and his first and only non Pee-Wee Emmy nomination.

In 1999 Reubens came back into the edge of the limelight as a character in the movie Mystery Men where he played "The Spleen", one of a group of wannabe super heroes. He was capable of subduing his adversaries with noxious blasts of "ass perfume". It was during the filming of this movie that Reubens appeared on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in 1999 in one of his very first interviews not as Pee-Wee.

In 2001 Reubens was the host of the short lived TV show based on the game You Don't Know Jack. On this show, he portrayed a character as Troy Stevens. That same year, he received his most rave reviews for a non Pee-Wee role when he played a gay hairdresser/drug dealer in the Johnny Depp hit Blow. In a interview discussing the film, Reubens said of his character in the film (which was based on a real person who is still in hiding), "I wanted to make him like some kind of comic relief."

2004 saw the start of Reubens appearing in public eye more regularly. In a 2004 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Reubens said that he was working on a few television and movie ideas, and that Hollywood, he hopes, has not seen the last of Reubens or his alter ego, Pee-wee. Reubens has also stated a strong possibility of a Pee-wee's Playhouse movie on an NPR interview with Terry Gross on December 27, 2004. A third Pee-wee movie was also suggested. Both, said Reubens, are actively being worked on, but no dates or official announcements were made as of this date.

Reubens reprised his role as Lock in the video game The Nightmare Before Christmas: Oogie's Revenge. Reubens did not voice Lock when he appeared in Kingdom Hearts II, however.

He also appeared in the second music video version of the Raconteurs song "Steady, As She Goes". It showed the band in a comical soapbox car race. Reubens played the bad guy who tries to sabotage the race.

In early July 2006, Cartoon Network began running a promo during its Adult Swim lineup. The promo consisted of a black screen with the text, "Remember This?" displayed, while the beginning of the Pee-wee's Playhouse theme song played in the background. The commercial then faded to the text "Coming July 10 2006." A later press release and many other promos confirmed that the show's 45 original episodes would air on the block Monday to Thursday at 11 P.M.(EST) starting on that date. However, later on in August 2006, Adult Swim started airing Pee-wee's Playhouse at 12:00 A.M. (EST).

In the July 10, 2006 TV Guide, Reubens says that he is delighted that Cartoon Network's Adult Swim will be airing the original series, plus the Christmas Special, and that when he was asked by the network, he said, "Of course!" He feels that the show will be a perfect fit. Also mentioned were the two new Pee-wee feature films, with one being a more "adult-oriented" film, "A 'Valley of the Dolls' Pee-wee." The other is a movie that delves more into the visitors of the Playhouse, like Miss Yvonne and Cowboy Curtis. Reubens is prepared to don the tight gray suit once again.

On July 11, 2006, Reubens made a rare talk show appearance to promote Pee-wee's Playhouse on The Late Show with David Letterman, and made mention that a script was completed for a Pee-wee's Playhouse Movie which would take the characters from the 1980s television show out of the playhouse for the first time and into the real world. In a Time magazine interview, Reubens said production would start early next year for the film.[4]

On July 13, 2006, Reubens made an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. When O'Brien compared a Pee-wee doll to his own Conan action figure, Reubens held the Pee-wee doll and called the Conan figure a "little shrimp" in the trademark voice to cheers and applause. Conan later produced a Pee-wee suit and tried to convince Reubens to wear it, though Reubens only tried wearing the pants over the clothes he was already wearing. Reubens then did his famous dance as The Max Weinberg 7 performed "Tequila." Though he ultimately did not appear in character as Pee-wee Herman, Reubens came significantly closer than any other moment in the nearly 15 years since his last official Pee-wee appearance. He also appeared in VH1's The Best Week Ever on July 14, 2006.

On July 30, 2006, Reubens played Lt. Rick of the citizen's patrol on the popular Comedy Central show Reno 911!. The character, Lt. Rick, wore a red beret with numerous pins, a pair of gloves, and a small cape. Lt. Rick spoke with a scratchy whisper throughout the entire episode until near the end when officer Dangle plays a voice recorder where Lt. Rick is making chicken noises and laughs like Pee-wee Herman.

On July 31, 2006 Reubens was shown on Entertainment Tonight in an "exclusive interview". In the interview he talked about the future Pee-wee movies and Pee-wee's Playhouse being shown on Adult Swim.

On Saturday, August 5, at a showing of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA, Reubens made an appearance on stage before the show, bringing with him almost the entire cast of the film. To the uproarious applause and 15 minute standing ovation. E.G. Daily, Dotty, Judd Omen (Mickey, the escaped convict), Diane Salinger (Simone), Daryl Keith Roach (Chuck the bike shop owner), and Mark Holton (the dastardly Francis) were all present.

On August 16, 2006, Reubens appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. The following night, he appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

In late summer 2006 Paul announced that The Pee-Wee's Playhouse Movie has been greenlighted, although there is no word on what studio greenlighted the project. This film is family oriented, and is going into production around February 2007.

Reubens guest-starred in an episode of Tom Goes to the Mayor that was shown on Adult Swim September 17, 2006

In Fall 2006, Nike announced they will release a pair of Nike SB Dunks called "Pee Wee Herman Dunks SB". These sneakers are named for the grey and white color scheme with red detail which matches the colors of Pee Wee Herman's trademark suit worn on the show. The sneakers are due to be released in early 2007. Insoles seen on some sample shoes also have a drawing of Pee-Wee.

Reubens voiced the character Golly Gopher in Cartoon Network's feature length film Re-Animated, which premiered on December 8, 2006.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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