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Paul Reubens

File:Paul_Reubens_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Paul Reubens

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Also known as Paul Rubenfeld

American actor and comedian (1952–2023)

OverviewAI-generated

Paul Reubens (1952–2023) was an American actor, writer, voice actor, and screenwriter. Born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, he was a citizen of the United States and spoke English. He attended Plymouth State University, Boston University, and the California Institute of the Arts. Reubens performed under the pseudonym Pee Wee Herman and was a member of the Writers Guild of America West. His professional career spanned from 1977 until his death.

Reubens received a Daytime Emmy Award for his work. He is associated with the works *Big top Pee-wee* and *Big top Pee Wee*. He died of natural causes in Los Angeles on July 30, 2023.

Synthesized by Vinony from 42 facts across 8 sources: Wikidata, Crossref, Open Library, MusicBrainz, Last.fm, TMDb, Wikiquote, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Person · Open Library

Born
1952
Died
2023
Works
2

Top works

  • Big top Pee-wee
  • Big top Pee Wee

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Peekskill, New York, USA

Paul Reubens (August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor, writer, film producer, game show host, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor. In 1982 he began appearing in a show about a character he had been developing for years. The…

Known for

  • Pee-wee as Himself — Self2025
  • The World According to Allee Willis — Self (archive footage)2024
  • DEVO — Pee-wee Herman (archive footage)2024
  • Quiz Lady — Francine's Crush2023
  • Crack: Cocaine, Corruption & Conspiracy — Self (archive footage)2021
  • The Crown with a Shadow — Oliver (voice)2021
  • Celebrity Wheel of Fortune — Self - Contestant2021
  • The Holiday Movies That Made Us — Self (archive footage)2020
  • What We Do in the Shadows — Paul2019
  • Minecraft: Story Mode — Ivor (voice)2018

via TMDB

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Given name
Paul
Gender
male
Citizenship
United States
Place of birth
Peekskill
Place of death
Los Angeles
Languages spoken
English language
Native language
English language
Instrument
voice
Image
Paul Reubens SXSW 2016.jpg
Show 13 more facts
Commons category
Paul Reubens
date of birth
1952-08-27
name in native language
Paul Reubens
start of work period
1977-00-00
writing language
English language
birth name
Paul Rubenfeld
pseudonym
Pee Wee Herman
end of work period
2023-00-00
date of death
2023-07-30
manner of death
natural causes
cause of death
respiratory failure
Sources (5)

via Wikidata · CC0

~38 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Paul Reubens (/ˈruːbənz/; né Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952 – July 30, 2023) was an American actor and comedian, widely known for creating and portraying the character Pee-wee Herman.

Born in Peekskill, New York and raised in both Oneonta, New York and Sarasota, Florida, Reubens joined the Los Angeles-based troupe the Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor. Reubens developed his Pee-wee character at the Groundlings. After a failed audition for Saturday Night Live (Reubens was one of twenty-two finalists to be chosen as a regular on the show and thought his career was over when Gilbert Gottfried was chosen over him), Reubens debuted a stage show starring Pee-wee, The Pee-wee Herman Show, in 1981. Pee-wee quickly became a cult figure and, for the next decade, Reubens completely committed to his character, conducting all 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. Its sequel, Big Top Pee-wee (1988), was less successful. Between 1986 and 1990, Reubens starred as Pee-wee in the CBS Saturday-morning children's program Pee-wee's Playhouse.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Paul Reubens” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (8)