Pee-wee Herman


Pee-wee Herman is a comedy character created and portrayed by the American comedian Paul Reubens. He starred in films and television series during the 1980s. The childlike Pee-wee Herman character developed as a stage act that quickly led to an HBO special in 1981. As the stage performance gained further popularity, Reubens took the character to motion picture with Pee-wee's Big Adventure in 1985, toning down the adult innuendo for the appeal of children. This paved the way for Pee-wee's Playhouse, an Emmy Award-winning children's series that ran on CBS from 1986 to 1991. Another film, Big Top Pee-wee, was released in 1988.
Because of negative media attention following a scandal in 1991, Reubens decided to shelve his alter ego during the 1990s, but gradually resurrected it during the following decade. It was at that time that Reubens addressed plans to write a new Pee-wee film, Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Movie. In June 2007, Reubens appeared as Pee-wee Herman at the Spike TV's Guys' Choice Awards for the first time on television since 1992. After a lengthy hiatus, a third film, Pee-wee's Big Holiday, was released by Netflix in 2016 and was the last time Reubens portrayed the character before his death in 2023.

Origin

In the 1970s, Reubens 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 close friends, often writing and working on material together. Reubens wrote sketches, developed his improvisational skills and, with Hartman, he developed the Pee-wee Herman character.
In 1977, The Groundlings staged a performance in which its members created characters one might see in a comedy club. Reubens decided to play a guy that everyone immediately knew would never make it as a comic, partly because Reubens could not remember jokes in real life – he had trouble remembering punch lines and could not properly piece information in sequential order. Pee-wee Herman was born that night, his distinctive guttural "Ha Ha", followed by a low, "Heh Heh Heh" laugh became the character's catch phrase, as did his insult comeback, "I know you are, but what am I?"
Pee-wee Herman's signature gray glen plaid suit was originally a custom-made suit that Reubens had borrowed from the Groundlings director, Gary Austin; the small red bow tie was given to him by an acquaintance. Pee-wee's later checkered clothing and persona were largely lifted from manic 1950s children's TV host Pinky Lee. Also incorporated into the look were short black hair, pale skin with red rouge and red lipstick.
The inspiration for the name came from a Pee-wee brand miniature harmonica and the surname of an energetic boy Reubens knew from his youth. Reubens thought the name Pee-wee Herman was a name that sounded too real to be made up, and like a real name a parent would give a child that they didn't really care about.
Sometime in 1979, Reubens debuted his character on the television show The Dating Game, appearing three times.

Character background and personality

Throughout his film and television programs, Pee-wee Herman's background has remained relatively ambiguous. During interviews, he has been portrayed as though he is a real life stand-up comedian who expanded his career by playing himself in his films and TV series. This is echoed by the fact that a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was awarded to Pee-wee Herman rather than Paul Reubens.
In both Pee-wee's Big Adventure and Pee-wee's Playhouse, the character surrounds himself with strange inventions and decorations and has no visible means of support, whereas Big Top Pee-wee depicts him as a farmer/inventor. During a July 1983 segment on Late Night with David Letterman, Pee-wee said he has a sister named Hermione who was a Girl Scout, his mother's name is Honny Herman, and his father's name is Herman Herman. He went on to say that everyone in his family has a first name that begins with an "H" except for him. This was again stated during a 1988 special which elaborated that Pee-wee was raised in Florida.
Pee-wee is commonly portrayed as an impatient and fun-loving child with dainty, effeminate mannerisms and quirky facial expressions. His age has never been explicitly stated; although, he once proclaimed on The Pee-wee Herman Show, "I'm the luckiest boy in the world." David Letterman once said of the character, "What makes me laugh ... is that it has the external structure of a bratty little precocious kid, but you know it's being controlled by the incubus – the manifestation of evil itself." While the character is typically cheerful and flamboyant, Pee-wee has indeed displayed an aggressive side, including his vicious pool battle with Francis in Pee-wee's Big Adventure. He also played vengeful tricks in the aforementioned film and occasionally threw childish tantrums on Pee-wee's Playhouse. Reubens said that he felt Pee-wee "resets" after each adventure, his experiences only changing him slightly, and compared him to Dorothy Gale at the end of The Wizard of Oz.

1980–1992

''The Pee-wee Herman Show''

Paul Reubens auditioned for Saturday Night Live for the 1980–81 season but was not accepted into the cast. Instead, he started a stage show with the Herman character, which made one of his first appearances in the 1980 film Cheech & Chong's Next Movie. He first plays a rude receptionist in the film, spewing obscenities at police and being arrested. The character is later introduced as Pee-wee Herman, approaching the stage just before disputing with the film's title characters again. Shortly after the film, Reubens took Pee-wee to the real stage. Originally, Reubens imbued Pee-wee with sexuality that was later toned down as the character made the transition from raucous night club to children's television. The stage show was popularized by HBO when The Pee-wee Herman Show aired in 1981.
The show featured the writing and acting of Groundlings alumni Phil Hartman and John Paragon, who would both reprise their characters on Pee-wee's Playhouse. ''The Pee-wee Herman Show played for five sellout months at The Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, whereupon HBO filmed it and aired it as a special on September 11, 1981.
Following the success of The Pee-wee Herman Show, in the early and mid-1980s Reubens made several guest appearances on Late Night with David Letterman as Pee-wee Herman. These performances gave Pee-wee an even bigger following than he had with his HBO special. In 1983, Pee-wee Herman traveled the United States with The Pee-wee Herman Show'', making highly publicized stops at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and Caroline's in New York City.
In 1984, Pee-wee Herman sold out New York City's Carnegie Hall. Reubens said his appearances on David Letterman's show made Pee-wee a star.

''Pee-wee's Big Adventure''

While on the Warner Bros. lot, Reubens noticed that most of the people rode around on bicycles and asked when he would get his. Warner Bros. presented him with a refurbished 1940s Schwinn; Reubens then abandoned the Pee-wee Herman script he had been writing, which was to have been a retelling of Pollyanna. He began writing about Herman's love for his bike and his efforts to locate it once it was stolen. Hartman, Reubens and Michael Varhol co-wrote the script for Pee-wee's Big Adventure, basing the story loosely on Vittorio De Sica's The Bicycle Thief. The film was directed by Tim Burton, his feature film debut, and scored by Danny Elfman. It was released on August 9, 1985, and, while receiving mixed reviews, performed well at the box office and became a cult film. Reubens was the originator of the "Pee-wee dance" in the movie, and he had performed it publicly many times prior to making the film.
Pee-wee hosted the 198th episode of Saturday Night Live on November 23, 1985. Phil Hartman, who would become an SNL cast member the following year, was credited for writing the "Pee-wee Herman Thanksgiving Special" sketch and appeared as a pilgrim in it.

''Pee-wee's Playhouse''

The following year, Pee-wee found a home on the small screen with the Saturday morning children's program Pee-wee's Playhouse on the American CBS network for the next five years. The show starred Pee-wee living in his wild and wacky Playhouse, full of talking chairs, animals, robots and other puppet and human characters. The show became a hit, and during its time on the air, Pee-wee's Playhouse garnered 15 Emmy Awards.
Pee-wee also became the first guest on The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers on its October 9, 1986, premiere. During this time, Pee-wee would also be in an anti-crack public service announcement which was considered to be among the most classic anti-drug PSAs and pivotal to "The Thrill Can Kill" campaign. The following year, he made a cameo appearance in the film Back to the Beach. Reubens also filmed an insert for Sesame Street as Pee-wee, reciting his own version of the alphabet. In 1987, Pee-wee appeared on the hit primetime sitcom 227 alongside Marla Gibbs and Jackée Harry. The following year, a sequel to Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Big Top Pee-wee, was filmed. That same year "Pee-wee" was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and starred in Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special. The program included various celebrity guests, including Oprah Winfrey, Cher, Whoopi Goldberg, Grace Jones, Little Richard and Joan Rivers among others.

Reubens' 1991 arrest

In July 1991, while visiting relatives, Reubens was arrested in Sarasota, Florida, for masturbating publicly in an adult theater. Detectives would periodically visit pornographic theaters and observe the audience, arresting those engaged in what these detectives considered indecent exposure. Three other men were also arrested that night on similar charges. Reubens' infamous mug shot, which did not depict the clean-cut look Reubens had shown for the last decade, shocked the public, and many thought that the show had been canceled due to the arrest. In reality, the show had been canceled in 1990 due to a combination of multiple complaints of overworked crew members and a feeling that the Pee-wee character had run its course, which ultimately resulted in Reubens deciding against a sixth season. However, due to its widespread popularity, CBS elected to continue airing repeats of Playhouse in its Saturday morning schedule. The arrest was widely covered, and both the character Pee-wee and Reubens became the subject of ridicule. CBS stopped airing Playhouse, Disney-MGM Studios suspended from its studio tour a video that showed Pee-wee explaining how voice-over tracks were made, and Toys "R" Us removed Pee-wee toys from its stores. However, Disney's Star Tours, which featured voicework from Reubens, remained unaltered.
Despite the negative publicity, many artists who knew Reubens, such as Cyndi Lauper, Annette Funicello, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Valeria Golino, spoke out in his support. Bill Cosby defended Reubens, saying "Whatever done, this is being blown all out of proportion." Other people who knew Reubens, such as Playhouse's production designer Gary Panter, S. Epatha Merkerson and Big Top Pee-wee director Randal Kleiser, also spoke out against the way Reubens was being treated by the media. Reubens's fans also organized rallies of support after CBS canceled the scheduled reruns, with several dozens of "Pee-weeites" picketing in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. The general public also appeared to sympathize with Reubens – the TV newsmagazine A Current Affair received "tens of thousands" of responses to a Pee-wee telephone survey, with callers supporting Reubens with a 9-to-1 majority. He remained in a state of shock for weeks and was haunted by the arrest for several years, refusing to give interviews or appear on talk shows.
At the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards, Reubens made his first public appearance after the arrest. Taking the stage in costume as Pee-wee, he asked the audience, "Heard any good jokes lately?" and received a standing ovation. Reubens responded with, "Ha, that's so funny I forgot to laugh!" Pee-wee appeared once more in 1992, when he participated in a Grand Ole Opry tribute to Minnie Pearl. Reubens then avoided interviews and, according to a 1991 Rolling Stone article, had become weary of the character and wanted to explore new territory.