AI overview
Paul Reubens was an American actor and comedian best known for creating and playing the character Pee-wee Herman, a comedic persona that became famous through television and film. He was an influential figure in comedy and entertainment from the 1980s onward until his death in 2023.
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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
Acting · 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
Article
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.
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1952 births2023 deaths20th-century American comedians20th-century American Jews20th-century American male actors20th-century American male writers20th-century American screenwriters21st-century American comedians21st-century American Jews21st-century American male actors21st-century American male writers21st-century American screenwriters