Paul Reubens
Paul Rubenfeld (born August 27, 1952, in Peekskill, New York), also known as Paul Reubens, is an American actor, writer, and comedian, best known professionally for his character Pee-wee Herman.In the 1970s, Reubens made appearances at local comedy clubs and four guest spots on The Gong Show. It was around this time that he joined the L.A-based improvisational comedy team The Groundlings for 6 or 7 years, working at times with Bob Mc Clurg, John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and Phil Hartman, among others. He used the time to work on his skills in writing and improvising, became friends with Hartman, and developed the Pee-wee Herman character with him.
In 1980, Reubens landed a small role in the film, The Blues Brothers. He also appeared in Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams in 1981, and Meatballs Part II in 1984.
Reubens auditioned for Saturday Night Live the season that Eddie Murphy started, but wasn't accepted to the cast. Instead, he started a stage show with the Herman character. 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 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's stolen. Hartman and Reubens co-wrote the script for Pee-wee's Big Adventure and in 1985 the film was directed by Tim Burton, at the time a new director with only two short films to his name.
The following year, Pee-wee (along with Hartman) found a home on the small screen with the saturday morning children's program Pee-wee's Playhouse. "Pee-wee" even received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On July 26, 1991, Reubens was arrested in Sarasota, Florida for allegedly exposing himself in an X-rated adult movie theater. The news media went into a frenzy and the scandal marked the near death of the character "Pee-wee Herman." Although the series "Pee-wee's Playhouse" had already ended by that time, CBS dropped the reruns of Pee-wee's Playhouse from their lineup. Reubens made a deal with the Sarasota County court: in exchange for a fine and a few public service announcements, Reubens was given a clean record.
Reubens appeared as Pee-wee for the last time in the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, where he was given a standing ovation. Pee-Wee asked the audience, "Heard any good jokes lately?"
Reubens continues to appear in film and on television, with appearances in Batman Returns, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Everybody Loves Raymond, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Murphy Brown and Mystery Men. He also hosted a short-lived TV game show based on the popular computer game You Don't Know Jack.
Reubens has been a member of the Church of the SubGenius since 1981, though the Church has stated that he still owes them $10 in membership fees.
In 2001, Reubens announced plans for bringing Pee-wee Herman back for another film or two.
He was recently arrested (2002) in connection to an investigation involving child pornography and actor Jeffrey Jones, though these charges are pending as his case has not come to trial. 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 he had a sizable collection 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."
In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Reubens said he is currently working on a few television and movie ideas, and that Hollywood, he hopes, hasnÃÂÃÂt seen the last of Reubens or his alter-ego, Pee-wee.
ÃÂÃÂDoes anyone come back from this? I donÃÂÃÂt know the answer to that,ÃÂÃÂ he said. ÃÂÃÂbut IÃÂÃÂll be damned if IÃÂÃÂm going to let this destroy me.ÃÂÃÂ
External link
- Reuters news article on Reubens which states: "No images of child pornography were found by police in their analysis of the computer equipment seized from Reubens' home."