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Well...what the hell did you think I meant? :tongueout:


Character actors like Paul Reubens and Jim Varney have often become more known for the characters they portray than themselves as actors. Everybody knows Pee-wee Herman and Ernest, but how many of those knows the actor's name portraying those respective roles?

My first introduction to Pee-wee Herman was on Waylan Flower's Madame's Place TV show which featured that innuendo spewing puppet named Madame, an often scantily clad Judy Landers, and any number of guest comedians as would be taker's for Judy's hand (or, any of her other more delectable parts :twirl:). IMDB lists Pee-wee Herman as having been in one episode of the 1982 series, though I could have sworn he was in several.

Pee-wee Herman had quite a meteoric rise to fame; especially from a character that would have largely been relegated to the part of bit-character, and was primarily funny by his sheer annoyance factor.

An article in Wikipedia says that the character grew out of Paul's inability to remember jokes, or to deliver punchlines well; so why not a character that can never deliver a punchline well, but his thinking he can combine with his own brand of maniacal laughter is funny.

Paul Reubens had other non Pee-wee roles during his rise as Pee-wee Herman. I remember his role in the movie Meatballs Part 2; he was one of the few funny parts in a movie that was otherwise.

Guest appearances as Pee-wee were to be had as well. He appeared on a one-time Roddy Piper Halloween special. Though Roddy effectively had his own funny parts, Pee-wee certainly added to it with his own repartee effectively driving Roddy batty; or battier than he normally was.

Meteoric rises to fame are often short lived. Jim Varney was one of the few to ride his fame till the end when his life was cut short by lung cancer at a relatively young age of 50. Paul's rise to fame was cut short, as some would say, by his own hand (pun intended).

Though the public indecency charge was dropped, the damage had been done. Was it so much his fault, though, or the media's fault for going into such a frenzy over it? If the media had not been so rabid, would Pee-wee Herman have survived the scandal?

Even though Paul Reubens was taken down several notches, one thing he proved, and one thing I seriously respect about the man, was that he could not be taken down. Ever since the incident, he has continued to get roles and either deliver his expected brand of humor, or even recreate himself for the role; bringing something different to a role and even garnering critical acclaim for his work.

Looking at the IMDB listing of his roles shows someone who has had a continuous work record, though often not that recognized as he has played many roles outside of his Pee-wee persona.

A Pee-wee comeback?

The past few years has shown Paul even more active and promising a Pee-wee's Playhouse movie in the works, allegedly scheduled for a 2009 release.

Pee-wee sightings?

Has Paul Reubens, as Pee-wee Herman, reached that level of recognition where his mere presence in something always leads to shouts of "It's Pee-wee!!!"?

Has Paul been in something where you were not able to recognize him right away, or even made you forget that it was Pee-wee?

What is your favorite Pee-wee appearance in film or television?

Do you think a thread about Pee-wee Herman is a waste of space? :tongueout:

PW Big Adventure is a work of genius...def my favourite thing hes done. Big Top Peewee was a let down.

I swear the voice of the spaceship in Flight Of The Navigator is his voice, or maybe a couple of things it says are. not sure though.

seen a few episodes of playhouse and theyre pretty funny, especially when he gets celebrity guests  to do weird things you can tell theyre not 100% comftorbal about doing it.

Paul Reubens, probably one of the most underrated performers of our time.  Pee Wee's Big Adventure is one of my favorites and one that sticks out in great 80s comedies.  Also, Saturday mornings just wouldn't have been the same without the Playhouse.  

The guy can most definitely pull of other roles other than Pee Wee.  The movie Blow is a good example where he hams it up as a gay drug running hairdresser. Perhaps I'm one of few people that actually enjoyed Mystery Men but his role as the Spleen was a fun watch.

I think that is private life (which seems to border on the perv side here and there) unfortunately lead his career astray.  The major "stroke" in the theater and then later the child pornography charges which were dropped seem to sideline him.  Granted I'm not sure if there is a direct correlation but stuff like that can kill a career.  

Either way, well written piece Menard.   I hope to see Mr. Reubens back doing both Pee Wee and non-Pee Wee things.  :thumbup:

My first exposure to Pee Wee Herman (to continue the wanker puns) was when I rented a video of his HBO (I think) show/special. It was definitely not for kids, but it was very fun. It was basically his playhouse, but the dirty jokes/double entendres were everywhere. I was surprised, in fact, when it was turned into a kid's show, but it worked quite well.

As for non-Pee Wee roles, I think my favorite is in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie, not the show). I was pleasantly surprised when I finally recognized him as Amilyn, Lothos' (Rutger Hauer) minion. He definitely played the part differently from what I had been used to seeing up until then.

I remember PAUL RUBENS' early (if not earliest) appearance as PEE WEE HERMAN was in CHEECH & CHONG'S NEXT MOVIE.  I haven't seen it in many years, but I recall he looked like Pee Wee, had a nasty edge discarded in later films and TV, acted like the worst kind of ass, was a tattling finger-pointing squealing rat, and hilariously funny.   

Jim Varney reportedly has a genius level IQ (he could read at age 3) and was a trained Shakespearian actor. He began acting professionally at age 15.


Both of these guys had excellent children's programs, but Jim's only lasted 13 episodes.

Of course he started the Ernest character with string of regional TV commercials.

Nobody mentions his walkon as Danny DeVito's father in the Tim Burton Batman -- he accorded himself very well --
I knew Paul Rubens' double, but never met Paul himself.  His double would sometimes do personal appearances for Rubens -- Willam "Buddy" Erdos, can be seen as Bogart in the John Goodman film "The Babe".
The first "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" was done as an extended skit for adults -- lots of double-entendre jokes & Jambi the Genie made lots of lewd comments that wouldn't pass muster on a kiddie network.  Yeah, it's a shame about his career & I hope he finds more work again --
peter johnson/denny crane

QuoteThe major "stroke" in the theater

I'm looking for an article I read some years ago about the whole incident, and it really sounded like it was blown out of proportion. PR has always claimed he never did anything but enter an adult movie theater and watch a movie. The article stated that the officer that arrested him arrested people there regularly, and regularly they denied doing anything but watch the movie. It was also said that the officer would preach a religious viewpoint to them, and the several times other patrons backed up the accused to a point of it being dropped by the officer or later at the police station. The officer was also said to be vocal about not believing such theaters should exist. In short, the article pointed towards the officer taking it upon himself to try and kill the theater by scaring off patrons, due to his own beliefs. The whole issue hung in a his-word/policeman's-word situation, when the policeman's word was highly suspect at best.

I agree.  He definitely got the shaft.   :teddyr:

I see Paul Reuben in "Tripper" recently and a small part in the "Reno 911" movie. I pretty much spot him right away because when I was small I was a big Pee-Wee Herman fan.