Paul Reubens: An Adventure of Friendship

It’s been over a week since it was first announced that Paul Reubens passed away after a long and quiet battle with cancer. Like the rest of the world I too was heartbroken at the news of his death and as a lifelong fan I wanted to take a minute to celebrate his life.

Paul Reubens was born Paul Reubenfield on August 27, 1952. He was born in New York and was raised in Florida. He was one of three children born to Abby and Milton Reubenfield, who was a well known and decorated veteran of World War 2. After attending college for his entertainment career path in places like New Hampshire, Boston and California, Paul started performing at comedy clubs and eventually joined the popular theater based sketch comedy team known as the Groundlings, where he befriended many future legendary performers such as himself.

Paul would eventually earned a small role in the 1980 comedy classic The Blues Brothers, but it was the alter ego that Paul himself crafted as a Groundling that would become his signature role and his greatest claim to fame.

In 1977 Paul Reubens debuted a plaid wearing comedic man-child like character named Pee-Wee Herman. The character was genius composite of people, occurrences and even objects that Reubens himself encountered throughout his lifetime. In 1981 After being rejected by the sketch comedy powerhouse known as Saturday Night Live Reubens decided to give his self crafted character a stage show of his own, The Pee-Wee Herman Show.

The popularity and success of the stage show eventually led to a hit film, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1981) which was also so the directoral debut of cinema legend, Tim Burton and a hit tv series Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (1986).

The world definitely became taken with the spunky and rambunctious persona of Pee-Wee Herman. He was oh so lively with a healthy dose of humor to the heart, not to mention he is credited with giving us the famous comeback pun known as “I know you are, but what am I? Pee-Wee Herman brought Paul Reubens tremendous success that continued in the 90’s when he co starred in 90’s smash hits and cult classics like Batman Returns (1992), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), and The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993).

In all of these films Paul Reubens put comedic chops as well as his acting versatility on full display. He was so great at stepping into the shoes of these different character personalities that he made you forget that this was the same Paul Reubens who gave us Pee-Wee Herman. It was pretty clear, Paul Reubens had become one of the biggest superstars of comedy and entertainment, but like so many stars in the scope of the limelight, Paul had a battle with demons.

In 1991 Paul Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure at a pornograpic theater in Sarasota, Florida. Reubens became the subject of much public scrutiny following the incident. Though many wanted Reubens and his Pee-Wee Herman persona removed from the spotlight, many would come to Reuben’s defense. Throughout the next decade Paul would have similar legal run-ins that left a stain of controversial backdrop on his career.

After all of his legal troubles and a relatively quiet mid 90’s, Paul Reubens resurfaced with comeback success in the late 90’s and early 2000’s with co-starring roles in the hit films like Matilda (1996), Doctor Doolittle (1998), Mystery Men (1999) and Blow (2001).

In addition to playing Pee-Wee Herman it was all of these roles from Paul Reubens that had a big impact on me as a kid in the late 90’s. I watched Pee-Wee Herman with my family a lot, but seeing Paul Reubens as the characters he played in these films brought me a great deal of joy that really takes me back to a nostalgic moment in time. Another underrated performance he gave was in the 2007 horror slasher film The Tripper, which was written and directed by David Arquette who has always been a close friend and collaborator of Paul Reubens. This film sees Paul in a very crude and vulgar position as a shady concert promoter in the midst of a political slayer fest and his performance was definitely the most stand out of the film.

I can even remember him making a guest appearance on WWE Monday Night Raw in 2010 as Pee-Wee Herman and thinking how epic it was to see him there because I was always a big pro-wrestling fan and a big Paul Reubens fan.

On July 30th, 2023 Paul Reubens died after a six year battle with cancer. His death certainly came as a shock because many of us were unaware that he was sick as he was battle with cancer was private. When Paul passed away, a beacon of joy over an often troubled world passed away. Whether Paul Reubens was playing the most family friendly person in the world or even a sometimes vulgar character, his ability to create laughter is what made him a gift and a friend to the world. He took us on an adventure of laughter, life and friendship and for it, we will always love and remember him.

~~Dedicated to the memory of Paul Reubens, thank you for being a friend to us all and thank you for being with us on this adventure called life.