File:Paul_Reubens_by_Gage_Skidmore.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
OverviewAI-generated
Paul Reubens, born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, was an American actor, writer, and voice actor. He began his work period in 1977 and continued until 2023. Reubens was educated at the California Institute of the Arts, Boston University, and Plymouth State University. He was a member of the Writers Guild of America West and wrote in English.
He is known for the pseudonym Pee Wee Herman. His notable works include Big top Pee-wee and Big top Pee Wee. Reubens received a Daytime Emmy Award. He died in Los Angeles on July 30, 2023, from acute myeloid leukemia and respiratory failure due to natural causes.
Synthesized by Vinony from 31 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, Open Library, TMDb. 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
- Educated at
- Plymouth State University
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Award
- Daytime Emmy Award
- 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
- member of
- Writers Guild of America West
- manner of death
- natural causes
- cause of death
- respiratory failure
- place of burial
- Hollywood Forever Cemetery
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.