Pee-wee Herman
Pee-wee Herman is a comedy character created and portrayed by the American comedian Paul Reubens. He starred in films and television series during the 1980s. The childlike Pee-wee Herman character developed as a stage act that quickly led to an HBO special in 1981. As the stage performance gained further popularity, Reubens took the character to motion picture with Pee-wee's Big Adventure in 1985, toning down the adult innuendo for the appeal of children. This paved the way for Pee-wee's Playhouse, an Emmy Award-winning children's series that ran on CBS from 1986 to 1991. Another film, Big Top Pee-wee, was released in 1988.
Pee-wee Herman
Live performance:
The Groundlings (1977)
Screen:
Cheech and Chong's Next Movie (1980)
Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016)
Paul Reubens
Male
Stand-up comedian, actor
- Herman Herman (father, deceased)
- Honny Herman (mother)
- Hermione Herman (sister)
Due to negative media attention following a scandal in 1991, Reubens decided to shelve his alter ego during the 1990s, but gradually resurrected it during the following decade. It was at that time that Reubens addressed plans to write a new Pee-wee film, Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Movie. In June 2007, Reubens appeared as Pee-wee Herman at the Spike TV's Guys' Choice Awards for the first time on television since 1992.[1] After a lengthy hiatus, a third film, Pee-wee's Big Holiday, was released by Netflix in 2016 and was the last time Reubens portrayed the character before his death in 2023.
In popular culture
The character appeared on three covers of Rolling Stone, including issue 493 (February 1987), 614 (October 1991) with a cover story of "Who Killed Pee-wee Herman?", and finally 619/620 (December 1991) for the 1991 Yearbook.[83]
In the film Flight of the Navigator (1986), directed by Randal Kleiser, who would later direct Big Top Pee-wee, Pee-wee's characteristic laugh is uttered several times by the Trimaxian Drone (Max, voiced by Reubens), after he "contracted" emotions and 1980s knowledge from David. This persona, speaking in altered pitch similar to Pee-wee's, persists for the rest of the movie, a stark contrast to Max's original HAL 9000-esque tone.
Shortly after Reubens's 1991 arrest, Jim Carrey impersonated Pee-wee Herman on the FOX sketch comedy series In Living Color. Later, rapper Eminem imitated Herman in the song "Just Lose It", copying his trademark laugh and even dressing as the character in the music video. Eminem later also mentioned Herman in "Ass Like That".
While the Pee-wee Herman character had not originally been intended for a child audience, during the mid-1980s Reubens started forming him into the best role model he possibly could, making of his TV program a morally positive show that cared about issues like racial diversity, the four food groups, and the dangers of making prank calls, but in a manner not overly preachy.[28] Reubens was also careful about what should be associated with Pee-wee. Being a heavy smoker, he went to great lengths never to be photographed with a cigarette in his mouth. He even refused to endorse candy bars and other kinds of junk food, while trying to develop his own sugar-free cereal, "Pee-Wee Chow", a product that would have been produced by Ralston Purina; Pee-Wee Chow never made it to market after failing a blind test.[22][28][4]
During this time, he began successfully building a Pee-wee franchise with toys, clothes, and other items, generating more than $25 million at its peak in 1989.[84] Reubens also published a book as Pee-wee, titled Travels with Pee-wee (1989).[85]
In early 2007, Nike SB released a style of sneakers called Grey/Heather Dunk High Pro SB that use a grey and white color scheme with red detail inspired by the colors of Pee-wee's trademark suit, and an illustration on the insole suggesting Reubens's theater arrest.[86]
