Paul Reubens called "Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Movie". In 2010, he starred on Broadway in "The Pee-wee Herman Show". In 2016, Reubens helped write and starred in the Netflix original film "Pee-wee's Big Holiday", reprising his role as Pee-wee Herman. Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, and grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where his parents, Judy (Rosen) and Milton Rubenfeld, owned a lamp store. His mother was a teacher. His father was an automobile salesperson who had flown for Britain's Royal Air Force and for the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, later becoming one of the founding
Paul Reubens there is no specific source for "Pee-wee" but rather a collection of ideas. Pee-wee's voice originated in 1970 when Reubens appeared in a production of "Life with Father", where he was cast as one of the most obnoxious characters in the play, for which Reubens adopted a cartoon-like way of speaking that would become Pee-wee's. Pee-wee's name resulted from a one-inch Pee Wee brand harmonica Reubens had as a child, and Herman was the surname of an energetic boy Reubens knew from his youth. The first small gray suit Pee-wee ever wore had been handmade for director and founder of