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.
91裸聊视频淧lease accept my apology for not going public with what I91裸聊视频檝e been facing the last six years,91裸聊视频� Reubens said in a statement released Monday with the announcement of his death. 91裸聊视频淚 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.91裸聊视频�
The character with his too-tight gray suit, white chunky loafers and red bow tie was best known for the film 91裸聊视频淧ee-wee91裸聊视频檚 Big Adventure91裸聊视频� and the television series 91裸聊视频淧ee-wee91裸聊视频檚 Playhouse.91裸聊视频�
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 91裸聊视频淧ee-wee Herman Show91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频淧ee-wee91裸聊视频檚 Playhouse91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频淪aturday Night Live91裸聊视频� star Phil Hartman. In the plot, Pee-wee secretly wishes to fly.
HBO would air the show as a special.
91裸聊视频淧ee Wee got his wish to fly,91裸聊视频� Steve Martin tweeted after his death. 91裸聊视频淭hanks Paul Reubens for the brilliant off the wall comedy.91裸聊视频�
Reubens took Pee-wee to the big screen in 198591裸聊视频檚 91裸聊视频淧ee-wee91裸聊视频檚 Big Adventure.91裸聊视频� The film, in which Pee-wee91裸聊视频檚 cherished bike is stolen, was said to be loosely based on Vittorio De Sica91裸聊视频檚 Italian neo-realist classic, 91裸聊视频淭he Bicycle Thief.91裸聊视频� The film, directed by Tim Burton and co-written by Phil Hartman of 91裸聊视频淪aturday Night Live,91裸聊视频� 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 91裸聊视频淏ig Top Pee-wee,91裸聊视频� in which Pee-wee seeks to join a circus. Reubens91裸聊视频� character wouldn91裸聊视频檛 get another movie starring role until 201691裸聊视频檚 Pee-wee91裸聊视频檚 Big Holiday,91裸聊视频� for Netflix. Judd Apatow produced Pee-wee91裸聊视频檚 big-screen revival.
His television series, 91裸聊视频淧ee-wee91裸聊视频檚 Playhouse,91裸聊视频� 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, 91裸聊视频淚 know you are, but what am I?91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淲hy don91裸聊视频檛 you take a picture; it91裸聊视频檒l last longer?91裸聊视频� The act was a hit because it worked on multiple levels, even though Reubens insists that wasn91裸聊视频檛 the plan.
91裸聊视频淚t91裸聊视频檚 for kids,91裸聊视频� Reubens told The Associated Press in 2010. 91裸聊视频淧eople have tried to get me for years to go, 91裸聊视频業t wasn91裸聊视频檛 really for kids, right?91裸聊视频� Even the original show was for kids. I always censored myself to have it be kid-friendly.
91裸聊视频淭he whole thing has been just a gut feeling from the beginning,91裸聊视频� Reubens told the AP. 91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 all it ever is and I think always ever be. Much as people want me to dissect it and explain it, I can91裸聊视频檛. One, I don91裸聊视频檛 know, and two, I don91裸聊视频檛 want to know, and three, I feel like I91裸聊视频檒l hex myself if I know.91裸聊视频�
Jimmy Kimmel posted on Instagram that 91裸聊视频淧aul Reubens was like no one else 91裸聊视频� 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.91裸聊视频�
Reubens91裸聊视频� 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.
91裸聊视频淭he moment that I realized my name was going to be said in the same sentence as children and sex, that91裸聊视频檚 really intense,91裸聊视频� Reubens told NBC in 2004. 91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 something I knew from that very moment, whatever happens past that point, something91裸聊视频檚 out there in the air that is really bad.91裸聊视频�
Reubens said he got plenty of offers to work, but told the AP that most of them wanted to take 91裸聊视频渁dvantage of the luridness of my situation91裸聊视频�,91裸聊视频� and he didn91裸聊视频檛 want to do them.
91裸聊视频淚t just changed,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淓verything changed.91裸聊视频�
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.
READ ALSO:
