Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose character Pee-wee Herman became a cultural phenomenon through films and TV shows, has died. He was 70.
Reubens died Sunday night after a six-year struggle with cancer that he did not make public, his publicist said in a statement.
B次元官网网址淧lease accept my apology for not going public with what IB次元官网网址檝e been facing the last six years,B次元官网网址� Reubens said in a statement released Monday with the announcement of his death. B次元官网网址淚 have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you.B次元官网网址�
The character with his too-tight gray suit, white chunky loafers and red bow tie was best known for the film B次元官网网址淧ee-weeB次元官网网址檚 Big AdventureB次元官网网址� and the television series B次元官网网址淧ee-weeB次元官网网址檚 Playhouse.B次元官网网址�
The Pee-wee character would become a cultural constant for much of the 1980s, though an indecent exposure arrest in 1991 would send him into entertainment exile for years.
Herman created Pee-wee when he was part of the Los Angeles improv group The Groundlings in the late 1970s. The live B次元官网网址淧ee-wee Herman ShowB次元官网网址� debuted at a Los Angeles theater in 1981 and was a success with both kids during matinees and adults at a midnight show.
The show closely resembled the format the Saturday morning TV B次元官网网址淧ee-weeB次元官网网址檚 PlayhouseB次元官网网址� would follow years later, with Herman living in a wild and wacky home with a series of stock-character visitors, including one, Captain Karl, played by the late B次元官网网址淪aturday Night LiveB次元官网网址� star Phil Hartman. In the plot, Pee-wee secretly wishes to fly.
HBO would air the show as a special.
B次元官网网址淧ee Wee got his wish to fly,B次元官网网址� Steve Martin tweeted after his death. B次元官网网址淭hanks Paul Reubens for the brilliant off the wall comedy.B次元官网网址�
Reubens took Pee-wee to the big screen in 1985B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淧ee-weeB次元官网网址檚 Big Adventure.B次元官网网址� The film, in which Pee-weeB次元官网网址檚 cherished bike is stolen, was said to be loosely based on Vittorio De SicaB次元官网网址檚 Italian neo-realist classic, B次元官网网址淭he Bicycle Thief.B次元官网网址� The film, directed by Tim Burton and co-written by Phil Hartman of B次元官网网址淪aturday Night Live,B次元官网网址� sent Pee-wee on a nationwide escapade. The movie was a success, grossing $40 million, and continued to spawn a cult following for its oddball whimsy.
A sequel followed three years later in the less well-received B次元官网网址淏ig Top Pee-wee,B次元官网网址� in which Pee-wee seeks to join a circus. ReubensB次元官网网址� character wouldnB次元官网网址檛 get another movie starring role until 2016B次元官网网址檚 Pee-weeB次元官网网址檚 Big Holiday,B次元官网网址� for Netflix. Judd Apatow produced Pee-weeB次元官网网址檚 big-screen revival.
His television series, B次元官网网址淧ee-weeB次元官网网址檚 Playhouse,B次元官网网址� ran for five seasons, earned 22 Emmys and attracted not only children but adults to Saturday-morning TV.
Both silly and subversive and championing nonconformity, the Pee-wee universe was a trippy place, populated by things like a talking armchair and a friendly pterodactyl. The host, who is fond of secret words and loves fruit salad so much he once married it, is prone to lines like, B次元官网网址淚 know you are, but what am I?B次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淲hy donB次元官网网址檛 you take a picture; itB次元官网网址檒l last longer?B次元官网网址� The act was a hit because it worked on multiple levels, even though Reubens insists that wasnB次元官网网址檛 the plan.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 for kids,B次元官网网址� Reubens told The Associated Press in 2010. B次元官网网址淧eople have tried to get me for years to go, B次元官网网址業t wasnB次元官网网址檛 really for kids, right?B次元官网网址� Even the original show was for kids. I always censored myself to have it be kid-friendly.
B次元官网网址淭he whole thing has been just a gut feeling from the beginning,B次元官网网址� Reubens told the AP. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 all it ever is and I think always ever be. Much as people want me to dissect it and explain it, I canB次元官网网址檛. One, I donB次元官网网址檛 know, and two, I donB次元官网网址檛 want to know, and three, I feel like IB次元官网网址檒l hex myself if I know.B次元官网网址�
Jimmy Kimmel posted on Instagram that B次元官网网址淧aul Reubens was like no one else B次元官网网址� a brilliant and original comedian who made kids and their parents laugh at the same time. He never forgot a birthday and shared his genuine delight for silliness with everyone he met.B次元官网网址�
ReubensB次元官网网址� career was derailed when he was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult movie theater in Sarasota, Florida, where he grew up. He was handed a small fine but the damage to the character was incalculable.
He became the frequent butt of late-night talk show jokes and the perception of Reubens immediately changed.
B次元官网网址淭he moment that I realized my name was going to be said in the same sentence as children and sex, thatB次元官网网址檚 really intense,B次元官网网址� Reubens told NBC in 2004. B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 something I knew from that very moment, whatever happens past that point, somethingB次元官网网址檚 out there in the air that is really bad.B次元官网网址�
Reubens said he got plenty of offers to work, but told the AP that most of them wanted to take B次元官网网址渁dvantage of the luridness of my situationB次元官网网址�,B次元官网网址� and he didnB次元官网网址檛 want to do them.
B次元官网网址淚t just changed,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淓verything changed.B次元官网网址�
In 2001, Reubens was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography after police seized images from his computer and photography collection, but the allegation was reduced to an obscenity charge and he was given three years probation.
Born Paul Rubenfield in Peekskill, New York, Reubens, the eldest of three children, grew up primarily in Sarasota before going to Boston University and the California Institute of the Arts.
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