Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens (born Paul Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, writer, film producer 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 Reubens put up a show about a character he had been developing during the last few years. The show was called The Pee-wee Herman Show and it ran for five sellout months with HBO producing a successful special with it. Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and for the next decade Reubens would be completely committed to his character, doing all of his public appearances and interviews as Pee-wee. In 1985 Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, directed by the then unknown Tim Burton, was a financial success and, despite receiving mixed reviews, it developed into a cult film. Big Top Pee-wee, 1988’s sequel, was not as successful as its predecessor. Between 1986 and 1990, Reubens starred as Pee-wee in the CBS Saturday morning children’s program, Pee-wee’s Playhouse.
In July 1991, after deciding to take a couple of years’ sabbatical from Pee-wee, Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida. The arrest set off a chain reaction of national media attention that changed the general public’s view of Reubens and Pee-wee.The arrest postponed Reubens’ engagement in big projects until 1999, when he appeared in the big-budget Mystery Men and the blockbuster Blow, and started giving interviews as himself rather than as Pee-wee.
Since 2006, Reubens has been making cameos and guest appearances in numerous projects, such as Reno 911!, 30 Rock, Dirt and Pushing Daisies. Since the 1990s, he has worked on two possible Pee-wee films—one dark and adult, dubbed The Pee-wee Herman Story, and one a family-friendly epic adventure called Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Movie.
Reubens announced August 10, 2009 that he would be playing Pee-wee in a new stage show at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood running November 19 through December 20.
Ever since Reubens started giving interviews again after his 2002 arrest, he has talked about the two scripts he has written for future Pee-wee Herman films.
Reubens once called his first script The Pee-wee Herman Story, describing it as a black comedy. He has 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 by Reubens Pee-wee’s Playhouse: The Movie, 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 “puppet land”. All of the original characters of the show, live-action and puppets, are included in Reubens’ script. The story happens in a fantasy land that would be reminiscent of H.R. Pufnstuf and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In January2009,Reubens told Gary Panter that the “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure”’s rejected first script (which they co-wrote) could have a movie deal very soon, and that it would be “90 minutes of incredible beauty”.
Although he hasn’t revealed much about the scripts, he has said that one of the two films opens in prison. He has also said that using CGI for “updating” the puppets’ looks could be an option, but it all depended on the budget the films would have. Reubens once mentioned the possibility of doing one of the two as an animated film along the lines of The Polar Express, which uses performance capture technology, incorporating the movements of live actors into animated characters.
Reubens approached Pee-wee’s Big Adventure director Tim Burton with one of the scripts, but because of his other projects he declined.
Reubens’ present age and shape have 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 remains optimistic and has jokingly said he’s no longer nervous about being young Pee-wee again thanks to digital retouching.Reubens has also talked to Johnny Depp about the possibility of having him portray Pee-wee.
Reubens announced August 10, 2009 that he would be playing Pee-wee in a new stage show at the Henry Fonda Theater in Hollywood. The production, titled The Pee-wee Herman Show is set to run November 19 through December 20.Reubens has said the show may also play at some point in either Las Vegas or New York.
Pee-wee appeared on The Jay Leno Show on September 22, 2009 for an interview with Leno.
