Paul Reubens (born August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman who appeared as Mindy's High School 'friend' Dickie Nimitz in Season 4's Long Before We Met.
Biography[]
Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, and grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where his parents, Judy (Rosen) and Milton Rubenfeld, owned a lamp store. His mother was a teacher. His father was an automobile salesperson who had flown for the RAF, USAF and was one of the founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. He has two younger siblings Luke (born 1958), a dog trainer, and Abby (born 1953), an attorney and a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.[1]
Reubens spent much of his childhood in Oneonta, New York. As a child, Reubens frequented the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, whose winter headquarters was in Sarasota. The circus's atmosphere sparked Reubens's interest in entertainment and influenced his later work. Reubens also loved to watch reruns of I Love Lucy, which made him want to make people laugh.[1]
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 and Players of Sarasota Theater. After graduation, he attended Boston University. He was turned down by several actingschools, including Juilliard, and twice by Carnegie-Mellon, before being accepted at the California Institute of the Arts and moving to California, where he worked in restaurant kitchens and as a Fuller Brush salesman.[1]
In the 1970s, Reubens performed at local comedy clubs and made four guest appearances on The Gong Show (out of a total of fourteen guest appearances) as part of a boy–girl act he had developed with Charlotte McGinnis, called The Hilarious Betty and Eddie. He joined the Los Angeles–based improvisational comedy team The Groundlings and remained a member for six years, working with Bob McClurg, John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and Phil Hartman. Hartman and Reubens became friends, and often wrote and worked on material together.[1]
Career[]
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 would afterwards help Reubens develop the character while another Groundling, John Paragon, would help write the show.[1]
Reubens made his screen bow in the TV Special Things We Did Last Summer (1978) followed by the Penny Marshall directed pilot for Working Stiffs, starring Jim Belushi and Michael Keaton (1979). Reubens headied for New York and auditioned for Saturday Night Live for the 1980–1981 season, but Gilbert Gottfried, who was a close friend of the show's producer and had the same acting style as Reubens, got the job. 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 last few years.
While back in L.A. and trialling material for the Pee-wee Herman show, he appeared in two Steve Martin TV Specials, while honing his own show on stage, taking it to 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 in West Hollywood. The show selling out for 5 months solid, resulting in a HBO special making Reubens and Pee-wee Herman a star.
Television[]
| Year | Title | Episode(s) | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Things We Did Last Summer | Television special | Paul Oberon |
| 1979 | Working Stiffs | My Boys Are Having a Baby
The Bank Robbery |
Heimlich |
| 1980 | The Flintstone Comedy Show | RV Fever/Birthday Boy/Clownfoot/
Fred Goes Ape/Flying Mouse/Ghost-sitters |
Freaky Frankenstone |
| 1980 | Steve Martin: Comedy Is Not Pretty | Television special | Various roles |
| 1980 | Steve Martin: All Commercials | Television special | Various roles |
| 1981 | Mork & Mindy | Long Before We Met | Dickie Nimitz |
| 1981 | The Pee-Wee Herman Show | Television special | Pee-wee Herman |
| 1982 | Madame's Place | Episode: "#1.34" | Pee-wee Herman |
| 1984-85 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Pinocchio
Grimm Party |
Pinocchio
Guest Interviewee |
| 1985 | Saturday Night Live | "Pee-wee Herman/
Queen Ida & The Bon Temps Zydeco Band" |
Pee-wee Herman |
| 1986–1990 | Pee-wee's Playhouse | 45 episodes | Pee-wee Herman |
| 1987 | Dolly | Episode #1.1 | Pee-wee Herman |
| 1987-1988 | Sesame Street | 3 Episodes | Pee-wee Herman |
| 1995–1997 | Murphy Brown | 6 episodes | Andrew J. Lansing III |
| 2000 | Everybody Loves Raymond | Hackidu | Russell |
| 2001 | You Don’t Know Jack | 6 episodes | Troy Stevens |
| 2001 | Ally McBeal | Cloudy Skies, Chance of Parade | Louis |
| 2006 | Campus Ladies | Drama Class | Drama instructor |
| 2006 | Reno 911! | Rick's On It | Rick |
| 2007 | 30 Rock | Black Tie | Gerhardt Hapsburg |
| 2007 | Dirt | 3 episodes | Chuck Lafoon |
| 2007 | Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! | Cats | The Moon |
| 2007 | Pushing Daisies | 2 episodes | Oscar Vibenius |
| 2010 | WWE Raw | 1 episode; special guest | Pee-wee Herman |
| 2013 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Pee Wee Herman Wears a Halloween Costume | Pee-wee Herman |
| 2014–2015 | The Blacklist | 5 episodes | Mr. Vargas |
| 2015 | Portlandia | Dead Pets | Weirdoes' Lawyer |
| 2015–2017 | Gotham | 3 episodes | Elijah Van Dahl |
| 2018 | Mosaic | 7 episodes | JC Schiffer |
| 2018–2019 | DC: Legends of Tomorrow | 5 episodes | Dybbuk |
| 2019 | What We Do in the Shadows | The Trial | Paul |
| 2019 | The Conners | Lanford, Toilet of Sin | Sandy Bitensky |
| Year | TV Movie | Role | |
| 1988 | Sesame Street: Put Down the Duckie | Pee-wee Herman | |
| 1988 | Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special | Pee-wee Herman | |
| 2007 | Area 57 | Alien | |
| 2011 | The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway | Pee-wee Herman | |
He also leant his voice to various animated series including Rugrats (2002) ; The Groovenians(2002) ; Tripping the Rift (2005); Re-Animated (2006); Tom Goes to the Mayor (2006); Chowder (2007–2009); Batman: The Brave and the Bold (2009-2011); Adventure Time (2010); Tron: Uprising (2012-13); Robot Chicken (2012-15); Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness (2014); Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014); Sanjay and Craig (2014); Star Wars Rebels (2014); Lego DC Comics: Batman Be-Leaguered (2014); Phineas and Ferb (2014); American Dad! (2014-2016); Randy Cunningham: 9th Grade Ninja (2015); Pickle and Peanut (2015-2016); Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero (2015-17); Voltron: Legendary Defender (2017–2018);[2]
Film[]
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Pray TV | Jack Chudnowski |
| 1980 | Midnight Madness | Pinball City Proprietor |
| 1980 | The Blues Brothers | Chez Paul Waiter |
| 1980 | Cheech & Chong's Next Movie | Pee-wee Herman/Desk Clerk |
| 1981 | Nice Dreams | Howie Hamburger Dude |
| 1981 | Dream On! | |
| 1982 | Pandemonium | Johnson |
| 1984 | Meatballs Part II | Albert / Hara Krishna |
| 1985 | Pee-wee's Big Adventure | Pee-wee Herman |
| 1986 | Flight of the Navigator | Trimaxion/Max (voice) |
| 1987 | Back to the Beach | Pee-wee Herman |
| 1988 | Big Top Pee-wee | Pee-wee Herman |
| 1992 | Batman Returns | Penguin's Father |
| 1992 | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | Amilyn |
| 1993 | The Nightmare Before Christmas | Lock (voice) |
| 1996 | Dunston Checks In | Buck LaFarge |
| 1996 | Matilda | FBI Agent Bob |
| 1996 | Buddy | Professor Spatz |
| 1997 | Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas | Fife (voice) |
| 1998 | Dr. Dolittle | Raccoon (voice) |
| 1999 | Mystery Men | The Spleen |
| 2000 | South of Heaven, West of Hell | Arvid Henry |
| 2001 | Blow | Derek Foreal |
| 2004 | Teacher's Pet | Dennis |
| 2006 | The Tripper | Frank Baker |
| 2007 | Reno 911!: Miami | Sir Terrence Benedino |
| 2009 | Life During Wartime | Andy |
| 2011 | The Smurfs | Jokey Smurf (voice) |
| 2013 | The Smurfs 2 | Jokey Smurf (voice) |
| 2013 | Tom and Jerry's Giant Adventure | Screwy Squirrel (voice) |
| 2013 | Scooby-Doo! Mecha Mutt Menace | Irv (voice) |
| 2015 | Accidental Love | Edwin |
| 2016 | Pee-wee's Big Holiday | Pee-wee Herman |
Mork & Mindy[]
Paul Reubens appeared in Season 4's Long Before We Met as the nebbish-y Dickie Nimitz, an old High School Friend, and (unsuccesful) admirer of Mindy who Mork makes the acquaintance of when he goes with Mindy to her High School Reunion, where Dickie is part of the committee. Mindy immediately disabusing Mork of the idea that Dickie was one of her old boyfriends, Dickie goes on to sit with Mork while Mindy is prevailed upon to dance by one of her actual High School Boyfriends Steve Sanders. While sitting with him Dickie goes on and on about how hot a couple Steve and Mindy were back in the day, Steve beating up on him when he caught him spying on them when they were necking, pointing out how tactile Steve is with her still, successfully stoking up Mork's jealousy. When Mork travels back in time to see for himself what they were like, and whether she might have liked him back then, he discovers Dickie doing pretty much the same job he was doing at the Reunion, Dickie both in Steve's thrall and resentful of him, especially about Mindy.
Behind the Scenes[]
While Reubens was tooling up his show for the Roxy Theatre, one of his performances was attended by Bruce Johnson who was so impressed by him, spoke to Reubens and invited him to appear on the show, engineering the part of Dickie specifically for him.