Paul Reubens

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".

Early development

Paul Rubenfeld 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. 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 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 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. Pee-wee was an eccentric man-child in a too-small gray suit and red bow tie, with a buzz cut and a perpetually giddy disposition. His distinctive "Ha Ha" laugh became the character's catch phrase.

The Pee-wee Herman Show

Reubens auditioned for Saturday Night Live prior to Eddie Murphy's first season, 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). His stage show was immortalized by HBO when The Pee-wee Herman Show was aired in 1981.

The show centered on the antics of Reubens' alter ego Pee-wee Herman, a character significantly inspired by early TV kids' show star Pinky Lee.

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, which aired on CBS from 1986–1991. The Pee-wee Herman Show played for 5 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 Next Movie in 1980 and Nice Dreams in 1981, and Meatballs Part II in 1984 with Misty Rowe.

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. Pee-wee was the originator of the "Pee-wee dance" in the movie.

Pee-wee's Playhouse era

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.

In 1986, credited as '"Paul Mall'", Reubens provided the voice of the spacecraft's robotic commander, Max, in Disney's Flight of the Navigator.

In 1987, he provided the voice of REX, the bumbling pilot droid in the Disneyland attraction, Star Tours.

In 1987, he reprised the role of Pee-Wee Herman in a cameo appearance in the film Back to the Beach.

In 1987, Reubens filmed an insert for Sesame Street as Pee-Wee, reciting his own version of the alphabet.

In 1988, Reubens reprised the role of Pee-wee Herman in a sequel to Pee-wee's Big Adventure, entitled Big Top Pee-wee.

In 1988, "Pee-wee" was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1988, he starred in Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special.

In 2006, Pee-wee's Playhouse was reaired on adult swim on Cartoon Network

First arrest

On July 26, 1991, Reubens was arrested in Sarasota, Florida, for allegedly masturbating in an adult movie 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 cruel 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?"

Post-arrest work

Reubens continues to appear in film and on television, with notable film roles in Batman Returns, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Dunston Checks In, Matilda, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, Mystery Men, and Blow, as well as TV guest appearances on Murphy Brown, Fairy Tale Theater, Everybody Loves Raymond, and Ally McBeal. He also hosted a short-lived TV game show based on the popular computer game You Don't Know Jack.

In 2001, Reubens announced plans for bringing Pee-wee Herman back for another film or two, or maybe a re-launch of Pee-Wee's Playhouse.

Second arrest

Reubens was arrested again in 2002 in connection with an investigation involving child pornography, which coincided with an unrelated child pornography case involving actor Jeffrey Jones. 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 after he pleaded guilty to a separate "misdemeanor obscenity" charge.

Current activity

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

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 Oogie's Revenge.

Reubens directed the second music video version of the Raconteurs song Steady, As She Goes. It showed the band in a comical soapbox car race.

In early June 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 July 10, 2006.

In the July 10, 2006 TV Guide, Reubens says that he's 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 are 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 appearence to promote Pee Wee's Playhouse on David Letterman's show and made mention that a script was completed for a Pee Wee's Playhouse Movie which would take the characters from the 80's 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.^*

On July 13, 2006, Reubens made an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. When Conan 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 Pee-wee voice. 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 didn't appear in character as Pee-wee Herman, he 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 July 14 2006.

References

"Pee-wee TV star admits obscenity", BBC News. (March 19, 2004)
Bonin, Liane. "Paul Right Now", Entertainment Weekly interview. (April 11, 2001)
Phillips, Stone. "Pee-Wee Herman creator speaks out", Dateline NBC interview. (April 5, 2004)
Gross, Terry. "Actor Paul Reubens, 'Pee-Wee Herman'", NPR "Fresh Air from WHYY-FM" interview. (November 29, 2004)

External links

Paul Reubens | Рубенс, Пол | Paul Reubens

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