Paul Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld on August 27 1952 in Peekskill, New York. During his childhood his family lived in Oneonta, New York and Sarasota, Florida. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus's winter headquarters was located in Sarasota, and young Paul Rubenfeld spent a good deal of time there. It would have a lasting influence on him. He attended Sarasota High School, where he was president of the National Thespian Society. He attended Plymouth State University for one semester before attending Boston University. Afterwards he attended the California Institute of the Arts to study acting.
It was in the 1970s that Paul Reubens started playing in local clubs. He made 14 appearances on The Gong Show, some of them as part of The Hilarious Betty and Eddie with friend Charlotte McGinnis. It was not long after appearing on The Gong Show that he joined the comedy troupe The Groundlings. He would be a member of the troupe for seven years. The idea for his character Pee-Wee Herman came about in 1978 in an improvisation exercise with The Groundlings. In the late Seventies he also appeared in the TV movie Things We Did Last Summer and the TV show Working Stiffs. He provided voices for The Flintstone Comedy Show. He appeared in the movies Midnight Madness (1980), Pray TV (1980), The Blues Brothers (1980), and Cheech and Chong's Next Movie (1980).
It was for the 1980-1981 season that Paul Reubens auditioned for Saturday Night Live. He was passed up for Gilbert Gottfried. It was because he was not hired for Saturday Night Live that Paul Reubens created his own live show called The Pee-Wee Herman Show. It played at the Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood for five months. In 1981 it aired on HBO on their TV series On Location. For the next many years Paul Reubens would only appear as Pee-Wee Herman and was even billed as the character. The character Pee-Wee Herman starred in two of his own movies during the Eighties, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) and Big Top Pee-Wee (1988). From 1986 to 1990 Pee-Wee Herman had his own live-action show on CBS on Saturday morning, Pee-Wee's Playhouse. He appeared in the movies Nice Dreams (1981), Pandemonium (1982), Meatballs Part II (1984), and Back to the Beach (1987). He provided voices for Flight of the Navigator (1986) and Moonwalker (1988). On television he appeared on the TV shows Mork & Mindy, Madame's Place, Faerie Tale Theatre, 227, and Sesame Street.
In the Nineties he played recurring character Andrew J. Lansing III on Murphy Brown. He guest starred on Everybody Loves Raymond. He was a guest voice on the animated series Hercules. Paul Reubens appeared in the movies Batman Returns (1992), Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992), Dunston Checks In (1996), Matilda (1996), Buddy (1997), Mystery Men (1999), and South of Heaven, West of Hell (2000). He provided voices for The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) and Doctor Dolittle (1998).
In the Naughts Paul Reubens appeared on the TV shows Ally McBeal, Tripping the Rift, Campus Ladies, Reno 911!, Tom Goes to the Mayor, 30 Rock, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, and Pushing Daisies. He was the voice of Bat-Mite on Batman: The Brave and the Bold. He was a guest voice on the animated shows Rugrats, Chowder, and Adventure Time. He appeared in the movies Blow (2001), The Tripper (2006), Reno 911!: Miami (2007), and Life During Wartime (2009).
In the Teens he provided voices on the animated series Tron: The Uprising and Voltron: Legendary Defender. He was a guest voice on the animated shows Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Turbo FAST, American Dad!, Star Wars: Rebels, Phineas and Ferb, Pickle and Peanut, and Penn Zero: Part Time Hero. He was the guest voice of Dybbuk on the television series Legends of Tomorrow. He had a recurring roles on The Blacklist, Gotham, and Mosaic. He guest starred on the shows Comedy Bang! Bang!, Sanjay and Craig, Portlandia, Tigtone, What We Do in the Shadows, and The Connors. He was the voice of Jokey in the movie The Smurfs 2 (2013). He appeared in the movies Accidental Love (2015) and Pee-Wee's Big Holiday (2015).
In the 2020s, Paul Reubens was a guest voice on the animated shows The Tom and Jerry Show and Bob's Burgers. For much of his later career he also provided voices for several video games.
There is no doubt that Paul Reubens will forever be best remembered as Pee-Wee Herman, the exuberant man-child he played for much of his career, most notably in the films Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and Big Top Pee-Wee, and the TV series Pee-Wee's Playhouse. But Paul Reubens was capable of playing a wide array of other characters. He played The Spleen in Mystery Men, a superhero with a most unusual superpower. In the movie Blow he actually played a drug dealer who quoted lines from show tunes. On Murphy Brown he played the nephew of network president Stan Lansing (Garry Marshall), Andrew J. Lansing III, a sociopath who is nonetheless one of Murphy's few competent secretaries. On Gotham he played the biological father of The Penguin, Elijah Van Dahl. Although Paul Reubens will always be best remembered as Pee-Wee Herman, he played wide variety of other roles and played them well.
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