Paul Reubens, AKA Beloved Pee-wee Herman, Dead at 70
Paul Reubens, known the world over as Pee-wee Herman, died Sunday after a long battle with cancer. He was 70.
In a message posthumously posted to the legendary performer’s official Instagram page, Reubens wrote, “Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years. I 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.”
A separate Instagram message read: “Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy and belief in the importance of kindness. Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. A gifted and prolific talent, he will forever live in the comedy pantheon and in our hearts as a treasured friend and man of remarkable character and generosity of spirit.”
The Pee-wee Herman character had hit just about every platform since his introduction at The Groundlings Theatre in February 1981, including the big-screen hit Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in 1985, CBS’ Emmy-winning Pee-wee’s Playhouse from 1986-1991 and Broadway’s The Pee-wee Herman Show in 2010. Reubens last reprised the role in the 2016 Netflix movie Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.
Reubens’ non Pee-wee TV credits include stints on Ally McBeal, Pushing Daisies, The Blacklist, Gotham and, more recently, The Conners and What We do in the Shadows. His guest turn on the first season of NBC’s 30 Rock, meanwhile, remains the stuff of legend.
Rest in peace.
Sorry to hear this. Enjoyed his work as Penguin’s dad on Gotham. My condolences to his family and friends. #cancersucks
To quote Stephen Amell, “F*** cancer.”
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Thanks for the laughs, Mr. Reubens – not just as Pee-wee Herman, but also for The Nightmare Before Christmas and Flight of the Navigator. Heaven just gained a new comedic talent, and I’ll be cueing up “Tequila” and “Kidnap the Sandy Claus” in your memory.
RIP, Pee-wee. So sad you felt the need to apologize about being private about your illness.
aww this is sad :( i never knew he had cancer either :(
Big fan of the PWH character since the start with the HBO special and his other comedic work like his funny death in the Buffy movie and recently in an episode of What We Do in the Shadows.
Talented guy, big loss… RIP.
Absolutely the best scene in that Buffy movie.
I also enjoyed him appearing as decoys on To Tell the Truth the past few years.
Rest in peace Paul. I’ll always remember him from the Buffy movie.
Sending prayers 🙏🏽
The word of the day is “sad”. RIP.
RIP, Paul.
You brought joy to millions across generations.
While I’d like to quote Stephen Amell’s thoughts on cancer, I don’t think they would be appropriate to print… so I’ll just use the hashtag #cancersucks here.
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Thanks for the laughs and the poignance of your apology to the fans, Mr. Reubens. I’ll be cueing up “Tequila” and “Kidnap the Sandy Claus” in your honor.
I had NO idea he was Lock in The Nightmare Before Christmas.
We’ll always have You don’t know jack the game show
Christ, that’s such a deep cut. Was such a fan of the computer games and his hosting on the game show version was terrific. He will be missed.
Pee Wee’s Big Adventure and his HBO Special were a huge part of my childhood and I am sorry that he is gone. But we will always have his movies and specials to remember him by. “There’s no basement at the Alamo!”
Loved loved pee wee Herman. Heartbroken. God rest your soul.
Very sad to hear it. He was wonderful as Pee-Wee, and clearly took joy from playing the character — which was popular with kids and adults alike. But he was also a great comedian and character actor — it was kind of a shame that a single persona he created for an improv-comedy show ended up overshadowing all his other work.
oh no I’m so sad LOL
rip pee wee herman
Paul Reuben’s guest stint on Murphy Brown was hysterical. He played Andrew (nephew of Stan) of her many revolving assistants.
Condolences to his family & friends.
PS: wherever you are going in the afterlife, tell them “Large Marge sent you” ❤️
I agree!
Now,
whenever the song ,
Tequila is playing, it will remind me of him!
Cancer runs in my family,
so hearing that he died from cancer,
really made the news of his passing away,
so much sadder …
He brought so much laughter and entertainment to myself and so many others…..
His talent is much appreciated….
Thank you !
May Paul Reubens
rest in peace 🕊️…
My heart is broken.
And he was great as Amy’s brother running the comic book store in Everybody Loves Raymond, in just one episode before Chris Elliott took over the role.
Pee Wee Herman was not high on my list of must-see TV shows. I can confidently say that I never saw either of his big movies. He may have been an icon for the kids but I can’t claim any losses for his passing. Hopefully, if he got welcomed into Heaven, he will forever prosper.
What a weird, unnecessary comment.
‼️ 💯 ‼️
Not really, this TVLine article isn’t nearly as complete as it should be. If the WIki article on Reubens is anywhere near accurate, IMO, the above TVLine article doesn’t make TVLine look good at all.
As a side note, I do hope TVLine stops posting political articles. I thought this site was supposed to be about entertainment, not politics. I have no interest in politics. I have no interest in reading comments where commenters verbally rip each other to shreds. And if TPTB honestly think that those commenters will keep that behavior in the comment sections of political articles, and that it won’t travel into entertainment columns, then they haven’t seen what I have seen happen at other websites where TPTB there though that they could have a little political content and have it confined to one area. It doesn’t work that way.
I always liked the PeeWee Herman character and, really, just about anything else Paul Reubens did. His funny, silly and sweet tempered comedy will last.
Even as we grew older, we grew even founder for the comedian that could turn your whole living room and TV set inside out with some of the most outrageous laughter not many people could ignore. RIP, PEE WEE, always that barrel of infectious laughs and smiles. YOU ARE MISSED !!
Fly high Pee Wee Herman. Safe travels on the next leg of your beautiful journey xx