Paul Reubens Paul Reubens Paul Reubens (; né Rubenfeld; born August 27, 1952) is an American actor, writer, film producer, game show host, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor. In 1982, Reubens put up a show about a character he had been developing for years. The show was called "The Pee-wee Herman Show" and it ran for five sold-out months with HBO producing a successful special about it. Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and for the
Paul Reubens of junk food, all the while trying to release his own sugar-free cereal "Ralston Purina Pee-wee Chow cereal", a project that died after a blind test. With his positive attitude and quirkiness, Pee-wee became an instant cult figure, earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame by 1989, and successfully building a Pee-wee franchise, with toys, clothes and other items generating more than $25 million at its peak in 1988. Reubens also published a book as Pee-wee in 1989 called "Travels with Pee-Wee". CBS aired reruns of "Playhouse" until July 1991, when Reubens was arrested, pulling from their schedule