Age, Biography, and Wiki
Paul Reubens was born on August 27, 1952, in Peekskill, New York. He is best known for creating and portraying the beloved character Pee-wee Herman, which catapulted him to fame. Reubens passed away on July 31, 2023, at the age of 70.
| Occupation | Game Show Host |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 27 August 1952 |
| Age | 72 Years |
| Birth Place | Peekskill, New York, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Virgo |
| Country | U.S |
| Date of death | 30 July, 2023 |
| Died Place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Details about Paul Reubens' physical measurements are not widely documented, but he was known for his distinctive appearance, which included his signature grey suit and red bow tie as Pee-wee Herman.
With the help of other Groundlings like John Paragon, Phil Hartman, and Lynne Marie Stewart, Pee-wee acquired a small group of followers, and Reubens took his show to the Roxy Theatre where The Pee-wee Herman Show ran for five sellout months. He performed midnight shows for adults and weekly matinees for children, later entering the mainstream when HBO aired The Pee-wee Herman Show in 1981 as part of their series On Location. Reubens also appeared as Pee-wee in the 1980 film Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. He again appeared in 1981's Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams; the end credits of the film billed him as "Hamburger Dude". Reubens's act had mainly positive reactions and quickly acquired a group of fans, despite being described as "bizarre", and Reubens being described as "the weirdest comedian around". Pee-wee was both "corny" and "hip", "retrograde" and "avant-garde".
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Dating & Relationship Status
Paul Reubens never married and did not have any children. His personal life was relatively private, and he focused more on his career and public persona.
His mother was a teacher. His father was an automobile salesperson who had flown for Britain's Royal Air Force and for the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, and later became one of the founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. An Orthodox Jew, he was one of five Jewish pilots to fly against Arab forces in smuggled fighter planes.
Reubens spent much of his childhood in Oneonta, New York. As a child, he frequented the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, whose winter headquarters were in Sarasota. The circus atmosphere sparked Reubens's interest in entertainment and influenced his later work. He also loved to watch reruns of I Love Lucy, which made him want to make people laugh. At age five, Reubens asked his father to build him a stage where he and his siblings would act out plays.
The character of "Pee-wee Herman" originated during a 1978 improvisation exercise with the Groundlings, where Reubens came up with the idea of a man who wanted to be a comic but was so inept at telling jokes that it was obvious to the audience that he would never make it. Fellow Groundling Phil Hartman afterwards helped Reubens develop the character while another Groundling, John Paragon, helped write the show. Despite being compared to other famous characters, such as Hergé's Tintin and Collodi's Pinocchio, Reubens said that there was no specific source for "Pee-wee" other than a collection of ideas. Pee-wee's voice originated in 1970 when Reubens appeared in a production of Life with Father, where he was cast as one of the most obnoxious characters in the play. For this role, Reubens adopted a cartoon-like way of speaking, which became Pee-wee's voice.
When Pee-wee's fame started growing, Reubens started to move away from the spotlight, keeping his name under wraps and making all his public appearance and interviews in character while billing Pee-wee as playing himself; Reubens was trying to "get the public to think that that was a real person". Later on he would even prefer his parents be known only as Honey Herman and Herman Herman. In the early and mid-1980s, Reubens made several guest appearances on Late Night with David Letterman as Pee-wee Herman which gave Pee-wee an even bigger following. During the mid-1980s, Reubens traveled the United States with a whole new The Pee-wee Herman Show, playing at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Caroline's in New York City and, in 1984, in front of a full Carnegie Hall.
After seeing the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, the CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received cartoon series proposal. In 1986, CBS agreed to sign Reubens to act, produce, and direct his live-action children's program, Pee-wee's Playhouse, with a budget of $325,000 per episode, the same price as a prime-time sitcom, and no creative interference from CBS; although CBS did request a few minor changes throughout the years. After casting actors like Laurence Fishburne and S. Epatha Merkerson, production began in New York City. The opening credits of the show were sung by Cyndi Lauper (under the pseudonym Ellen Shaw). Playhouse was designed as an educational yet entertaining and artistic show for children and, despite being greatly influenced by 1950s shows Reubens watched as a child like The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, The Mickey Mouse Club, Captain Kangaroo, and Howdy Doody, it quickly acquired a dual audience of kids and grownups. Reubens, always trying to make Pee-wee a positive role model, created a consciously moral show, one that would teach children the Golden Rule. Reubens believed that children liked Playhouse because it was fast-paced, colorful and "never talked down to them"; while parents liked Playhouse because it reminded them of the past.
After his 1991 arrest (see below), Reubens kept a low profile, dedicating himself to writing and collecting a variety of things, "everything from fake food, to lamps", although he did do some dubbing and took small parts in films such as 1992's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Tim Burton's Batman Returns (Reubens portrayed the Penguin's father) and 1996's Matilda and Dunston Checks In. In 1993, he voiced the character Lock in another one of Burton's productions, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Pee-wee's Playhouse had already ended by the time Reubens was arrested. He cited an overworked crew and a decline in the show's quality in his decision against making a sixth season. The show's popularity and quantity of episodes had allowed for rerun broadcasts, but CBS canceled the reruns on July 29, 1991.
In 2007, Reubens attended his own tribute at the SF Sketchfest, where he talked about his career with Ben Fong-Torres. He also signed with NBC to make a pilot on a show called Area 57, a sitcom about a passive-aggressive alien, but it was not picked up for the 2007–2008 season. Reubens did, however, appear on the hit NBC series 30 Rock as an inbred Austrian prince, a character Tina Fey created for him. He also made three guest appearances on FX's series Dirt playing a washed-up, alcoholic reporter named Chuck Lafoon. This time he was recommended for the role by Dirt star and close friend Courteney Cox. Cox's husband, David Arquette, then cast Reubens for his directorial debut, the 2007 film The Tripper.
Reubens attended the 1988 Academy Awards with Big Top Pee-wee co-star Valeria Golino, which stirred rumors that the two were dating. The following year Reubens exchanged vows with Doris Duke's adopted daughter, Chandi Heffner, at a mock wedding over which Imelda Marcos presided, in Shangri-La, Doris Duke's mansion in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Reubens reportedly dated actress Debi Mazar in 1993 after he started attending film premieres with her. Reubens credited Mazar with ending his depression from his 1991 arrest. According to Mazar, their relationship was platonic yet also inseparable. "We were best friends, and the truth of the matter is, basically, we had a love affair that was just cerebral."
In interviews conducted for the documentary Pee-wee as Himself, which premiered after Reubens's death, Reubens acknowledged he was gay and discussed his relationship with a painter named Guy whom he credited with inspiring some of Pee-wee Herman's mannerisms. After the relationship ended, Reubens visited Guy in the hospital hours before he died of an AIDS-related illness. Reubens chose to focus on his career rather than publicly talk about his sexuality during his lifetime, saying, "I was out of the closet, and then, I went back in the closet. I wasn't pursuing the Paul Reubens career; I was pursuing the Pee-wee Herman career. [...] I was secretive about my sexuality even to my friends [out of] self-hatred or self-preservation. I was conflicted about sexuality. But fame was way more complicated."
During this ongoing legal issue, Reubens spent two years in Sarasota, Florida, caring for his terminally ill father, who died in February 2004 of cancer. In the 2025 documentary Pee-wee as Himself, publicist Kelly Bush Novak recalls "I got a call from Paul and he told me it absolutely wasn't true. He knew Jeffrey Jones and Jeffrey Jones was being accused of.. improprieties and that person who accused him had been to Paul's house with Jeffrey and other people. And that person accused Paul of possession of child pornography."
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of his death, Paul Reubens' net worth was estimated at approximately $5 million. This wealth primarily came from his successful television show "Pee-wee's Playhouse," the film "Pee-wee's Big Adventure," and various other movies and guest appearances throughout his career.
Career, Business, and Investments
Paul Reubens began his career as a working actor and improv comedian in the 1970s. His character Pee-wee Herman was created after a failed audition for "Saturday Night Live." The character became a sensation, leading to a successful television show, "Pee-wee's Playhouse," which aired from 1986 to 1991. Reubens also appeared in several films, including "Batman Returns," "Mystery Men," and "Blow." His investments and real estate holdings contributed to his net worth over the years.
Reubens joined the Los Angeles 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 debuted a stage show starring Pee-wee, The Pee-wee Herman Show, in 1981. Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and, for the next decade, Reubens was completely committed to his character, doing all of his 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.
Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida, in 1991. The arrest set off a chain reaction of national media attention, though he received support from people in the entertainment industry. The arrest postponed Reubens's involvement in major projects until 1999, when he appeared in several big-budget projects including Mystery Men (1999) and Blow (2001). Reubens subsequently started giving interviews as himself rather than as Pee-wee.
Pee-wee's first name came from a one-inch Pee Wee brand harmonica Reubens had as a child, and the surname Herman was the last name of an energetic boy Reubens knew from his youth. The original small, gray suit Pee-wee wore had been handmade for Groundlings Director and Founder Gary Austin, who passed it on to Reubens. The origin of the red tie is less clear, as Reubens claimed that "someone" handed him the "little kid bow tie" before a performance.
Reubens auditioned for the Saturday Night Live 1980–1981 season on the same day as comedian Gilbert Gottfried. Reubens told Entertainment Weekly hiring both was not an option because they were "the same type of performer", and he knew immediately Gottfried would get the job. He also told the San Francisco Chronicle he believed that "the fix was in" because Gottfried was friends with one of the producers. Reubens was so angry and bitter that he decided he would borrow money and start his own show in Los Angeles using the character he had been developing during the previous few years, "Pee-wee Herman".
Reubens also had small parts dubbing or making cameos in a series of Cartoon Network projects such as the 2006 television film Re-Animated, the animated cartoon series Chowder, Tom Goes to the Mayor, and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!.
In December, he pleaded not guilty through Berk. In March 2004, child pornography charges were dropped in exchange for Reubens's guilty plea to a lesser misdemeanor obscenity charge. For the next three years, he was required to register his address with the sheriff's office, and he could not be in the company of minors without the permission of their parent or legal guardian.
Social Network
Paul Reubens did not have a significant presence on social media platforms, as his career predated the widespread use of these platforms. However, his legacy and characters continue to be celebrated by fans online.
After high school graduation, he attended Plymouth State University for one semester. He then attended Boston University. When he began auditioning for acting schools, he was turned down by the Juilliard School and Carnegie Mellon University. Reubens was accepted at the California Institute of the Arts, where he graduated with a BFA in Theatre in 1973. As a student, Reubens was described by The New Yorker as "the wildest of a wild bunch." He acted in a student film in Cher-inspired mermaid drag and kissed all of his classmates at a Valentine’s Day kissing booth. Some of his CalArts classmates included Katey Sagal, Michael Richards and David Hasselhoff, who was his roommate for a time. Sagal described Reubens as her "fantastically colorful best buddy" down the hall from her in the dorm, who would listen to her play music on the piano. She recalled that Reubens' dorm room was like a real-life Pee-wee’s Playhouse. "He was the only one with a decorated dorm room, everyone else had posters with Scotch tape, and you'd go to his room and it was a party." After graduating, his early jobs in California included working in restaurant kitchens and as a Fuller Brush salesman.
In the 1970s, Reubens began performing at local comedy clubs. Starting in 1977, he made 14 guest appearances on The Gong Show, four of which involved a boy–girl act he had developed with Charlotte McGinnis entitled The Hilarious Betty and Eddie. During his stint on The Gong Show, Reubens introduced a Native American lounge-singer character named Jay Longtoe, decked out in sequined loincloth and feathered headdress. "This doesn’t say much for the audience," Reubens explains in the documentary Pee-wee as Himself. "But the audience ate it up and went crazy. So I was like, Hey, I’m getting laughs...I had no clue it was like a billion percent—not even borderline racist—I mean, it was full-on racist. Until Pee-wee Herman came along, I thought that was my ticket. I thought I would be propelled to stardom as a Native American lounge singer. Thank God that wasn’t the case."
Reubens had heard about Tim Burton at a party the same night that he had gotten permission from the studio to get an extension on his director search. "I screened 'Frankenweenie and I spoke to Shelley Duvall, who was a friend of mine who was in (the film)," Reubens explained. "I knew Tim was the director about 15 seconds into Frankenweenie, like the second or third shot of it. I was looking at the wallpaper in this bedroom and the lighting and just going, 'This is the guy who has style and understands art direction.' Those were two really important things for me and my baby, I guess, and you know it just happened to luckily all work out." The film tells the story of Pee-wee Herman embarking on nationwide adventure in search of his stolen bicycle. The film went on to gross $40,940,662 domestically, recouping almost six times its $7 million budget. At the time of release in 1985, the film received mixed reviews, but Pee-wee's Big Adventure developed into a cult film.
Right after the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Reubens began working with Paramount Pictures on a sequel entitled Big Top Pee-wee. Reubens and George McGrath's script was directed by Grease director Randal Kleiser. The film was not as successful as its predecessor, receiving mild reviews and doing just over one third as well in the box office, earning only $15 million. Pee-wee's Playhouse aired from September 13, 1986, until November 10, 1990. Reubens had originally agreed to do two more seasons after the third, and when CBS asked Reubens about the possibility of a sixth season he declined, wanting to take a sabbatical. Reubens had been suffering from burnout from playing Pee-wee full-time and had been warning that Pee-wee was temporary and that he had other ideas he would like to work on. The parties agreed to end the show after five seasons, which included 45 episodes and a Christmas Special. Playhouse garnered 22 Emmy Awards.
In January 2009, Reubens hinted that negotiations were under way for his stage show to come back, and in August the return of The Pee-wee Herman Show was announced. Reubens said he felt Pee-wee calling, "I just got up one day and felt like I'm gonna come back, that was it." The show is also a way to "introduce Pee-wee to the new generation that didn't know about it", preparing the way for Reubens's main project, the Playhouse film. Before this comeback, Reubens's present age and shape had been pointed out as a possible issue, since Pee-wee's slim figure and clean skin have been one of his trademarks. But after appearing for the first time since 1992 as Pee-wee at Spike TV's 2007 Guys Choice Awards, Reubens had remained optimistic and had jokingly said he's no longer nervous about being young Pee-wee again thanks to digital retouching.
The show was originally scheduled to begin November 8 and continue until the 29th at the Music Box Theatre in Hollywood. Due to high demand, the show moved to Club Nokia at LA Live and was scheduled to run between January 12 and February 7, 2010. To promote the show, Reubens once again gave interviews in character, appearing as a guest on The Jay Leno Show, The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien (as well as O'Brien's subsequent Legally Prohibited Tour), and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, among others. A Twitter account, a Facebook account, and a new website were made for Pee-wee after the show changed venues.
Reubens once called his first script The Pee-wee Herman Story, describing it as a black comedy. He also referred to the script as "dark Pee-wee" or "adult Pee-wee", with the plot involving Pee-wee becoming famous as a singer after making a hit single and moving to Hollywood, where "he does everything wrong and becomes a big jerk". Reubens further explained the film has many "Valley of the Dolls moments". Reubens thought this script would be the first one to start production, but in 2006 Reubens announced he was to start filming his second script in 2007.
The second film, a family-friendly adventure, is called Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Movie by Reubens, and follows Pee-wee and his Playhouse friends on a road-trip adventure, meaning that they would leave the house for the first time and go out into "Puppetland". All of the original characters of the show, live-action and puppets are included in Reubens's script. The story happens in a fantasy land that would be reminiscent of H.R. Pufnstuf and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In January 2009, Reubens told Gary Panter that the rejected first script of Pee-wee's Big Adventure (which they co-wrote) could have a film deal very soon and that it would be "90 minutes of incredible beauty". In December 2009, while in character, Reubens said this film is "already done, the script is already fully written; It's ready to shoot." Most of the film will take place in Puppetland and claymation might be used.
In January 2010, Reubens reprised his role as Pee-wee and reused the set of Pee-wee's Playhouse (albeit slightly modified) for a short sketch on Funny or Die. In the sketch, Pee-wee comes home and shows off a brand-new iPad given to him by Steve Jobs. This leads to a long argument between him and his puppet friends, who point out all of the iPad's disadvantages – even Conky himself points out its flaws by stating that "it looks like a giant iPhone". In the end, Pee-wee uses the iPad as a serving tray to hold glasses of milk and lemonade during a party being held at the Playhouse hours later. All the voices of the puppet characters are dubbed in by different actors than the TV series, except for Globey whose voice is still done by George McGrath.
In July 1991, Reubens was arrested in Sarasota, Florida, for indecent exposure while watching a film at a porno theater. During an unexpected police inspection, a detective detained Reubens, along with three others, as he was preparing to leave. When detectives examined his driver's license, Reubens told them "I'm Pee-wee Herman" and offered to perform a children's benefit for the sheriff's office "to take care of this". The next day, after a local reporter recognized Reubens's name, Reubens's attorney extended the same offer to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune in exchange for withholding the story. On the night of the arrest, Reubens traveled to Nashville, where his sister and lawyer lived, and then to New Jersey, where he stayed for the next few months at his friend Doris Duke's estate.
Pee-wee's tight-fitting Glen plaid suits have made him a "style icon", with fashion houses and designers like Christopher Bailey, Ennio Capasa, Miuccia Prada, Viktor & Rolf, and Thom Browne creating tightly cut suits with high armholes and short trousers that have been compared to Pee-wee's.
Education
Reubens attended Boston University. His early experiences in comedy clubs and improv helped shape his career and the creation of Pee-wee Herman.
Despite facing challenges throughout his career, Paul Reubens remained a beloved figure in the entertainment industry, known for his unique humor and creative talents that have left a lasting impact on generations of fans.
Reubens attended Sarasota High School, where he was named president of the National Thespian Society. He was accepted into Northwestern University's summer program for gifted high-school students, joined the local Asolo Theater, Players of Sarasota Theater, and appeared in several plays.
Reubens had not always thought of his character as one for children prior to the mid-1980s, when he became more selective of what should and should not be associated with Pee-wee. He was a heavy smoker and hired security to make sure that children never saw him with a cigarette while in costume. He refused to endorse candy bars and other unhealthy food; he said in 1999 that he had proposed "Ralston Purina Pee-wee Chow cereal", but the sugar-free product was not released due to a negative reaction in a blind taste test.
