Paul Reubens has passed away after a battle with cancer. This is according to his official Facebook page, you can read the post below.
Reubens also made a posthumous message to his Instagram.
“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.”
Reubens started his career in the 1970’s in Los Angeles as part of the revolutionary comedy troupe, The Groundlings. From there he cultivated his character of Pee-Wee Herman. That character and Reubens reached superstardom with the release of Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure in 1985. The film saw the rise of Reubens and director Tim Burton. Three years later, Reubens joined with director Randal Kleiser on Big Top Pee-Wee.
From there, Pee-Wee and Reubens transitioned to television with the series Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. That show aired from 1986 to 1990 on CBS.
His career wasn’t without controversy though. Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure at an adult movie theater in 1991. The scandal forced him into doing interviews and press as himself instead of the Pee-Wee character. Pee-Wee came back in a big way in the 2010’s with The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway, appearances on WWE Raw, Funny or Die, and eventually a Netflix sequel in Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday. That was his final film role until his death.
He’s also starred in plenty of off-the-wall productions with inventive characters like Mystery Men, Blow, Batman Returns, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Matilda.
Reubens was in the middle of developing two new Pee-Wee properties, The Pee-Wee Herman Story and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse: The Movie.
This is a developing story. We’ll keep you updated as we get more news.
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