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.

He produced and wrote a feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), directed by Tim Burton, which was a financial and critical success.

[8] In the 1970s, Reubens began performing at local comedy clubs and, starting in 1977, made 14 guest appearances on The Gong Show, four of which as part of a boy–girl act he had developed with Charlotte McGinnis, called The Hilarious Betty and Eddie.

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.

[22][23] Despite being compared to other famous characters, such as Hergé's Tintin and Collodi's Pinocchio,[24][25] Reubens said that there was no specific source for "Pee-wee" other than a collection of ideas.

[13][27] The original small, gray suit Pee-wee wore had been handmade for Groundlings Director and Founder Gary Austin, who passed it on to Reubens.

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".

[33] 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.

[39] After seeing the success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, the CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received cartoon series proposal.

[24][27][28] Reubens, always trying to make Pee-wee a positive role model, created a consciously moral show, one that would teach children the Golden Rule.

[13] By 1999, Reubens had given several interviews as himself and made public appearances while promoting the film Mystery Men, the first being on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno that year.

[52] Reubens played a flamboyant hairdresser turned drug dealer in Ted Demme's 2001 drama Blow, which starred Penélope Cruz and Johnny Depp.

[58] He also made three guest appearances on FX's series Dirt playing a washed-up, alcoholic reporter named Chuck Lafoon.

In 2008, Reubens was slated to appear as homeopathic antidepressant salesman Alfredo Aldarisio in the third episode of Pushing Daisies, but the role was recast with Raúl Esparza.

Also, during 2008, Reubens did a PSA for Unscrew America, a website that aims to get people to change regular light bulbs for more energy-efficient ones in the form of CFLs and LED.

[70] 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.

[72] On November 11, 2010, the show relocated to New York City for a limited run at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, selling over $3 million in advance tickets.

[83] 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".

[citation needed] Reubens attended the 1988 Academy Awards with Big Top Pee-wee co-star Valeria Golino, which stirred rumors that the two were dating.

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".

[97] 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 following months at his friend Doris Duke's estate.

[29][40] Reubens's fans organized support rallies after CBS canceled the reruns, picketing in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.

[96][101] The television news magazine A Current Affair received "tens of thousands" of responses to a Pee-wee telephone survey in which callers supported Reubens by a nine-to-one ratio.

[25][29] In November 2002, while filming David LaChapelle's video for Elton John's "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore", Reubens learned that police were at his home with a search warrant.

"[2] Kelly Bush, Reubens's personal representative at the time, said the description of the items was inaccurate and stated the objects were "Rob Lowe's sex videotape", and a few 30- to 100-year-old kitsch collectible images.

"[104] Reubens turned himself in to the Hollywood division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) and was charged with misdemeanor possession of obscene material improperly depicting a child under the age of 18 in sexual conduct.

[2] 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.

[109] 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.

A later press release and many other promos confirmed that the show's 45 original episodes would air nightly from Monday to Thursday starting on that date.

[28] Several children's television personas cite Pee-wee Herman as an inspiration, including Steve Burns of Blue's Clues[113] and Stephen Hillenburg of SpongeBob SquarePants.