1977–1979: Comedy beginnings In the 1970s, Reubens began performing at local comedy clubs. Starting in 1977, he made 14 guest appearances on
The Gong Show, four of which involved a boy–girl act he had developed with Charlotte McGinnis entitled
The Hilarious Betty and Eddie. During his stint on
The Gong Show, Reubens introduced a Native American lounge-singer character named Jay Longtoe, decked out in sequined loincloth and feathered headdress. "This doesn't say much for the audience," Reubens explains in the documentary
Pee-wee as Himself. "But the audience ate it up and went crazy. So I was like, Hey, I'm getting laughs...I had no clue it was like a billion percent—not even borderline racist—I mean, it was full-on racist. Until Pee-wee Herman came along, I thought that was my ticket. I thought I would be propelled to stardom as a Native American lounge singer. Thank God that wasn't the case." He soon joined the
Los Angeles–based improvisational comedy team
the Groundlings. He remained a troupe member for six years, working with Bob McClurg,
Edie McClurg,
John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and
Phil Hartman. Hartman and Reubens became friends, and they often wrote and worked together on material. In 1980, Reubens had a small part as a waiter in
The Blues Brothers. The character of "Pee-wee Herman" originated during a 1978 improvisation exercise with the Groundlings, where Reubens came up with the idea of a man who wanted to be a comic but was so inept at telling jokes that it was obvious to the audience that he would never make it. Fellow Groundling
Phil Hartman afterwards helped Reubens develop the character while another Groundling,
John Paragon, helped write the show. Despite being compared to other famous characters, such as
Hergé's
Tintin and
Collodi's
Pinocchio, Reubens said that there was no specific source for "Pee-wee" other than 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 this role, Reubens adopted a cartoon-like way of speaking, which became Pee-wee's voice. Pee-wee's first name came from a one-inch Pee Wee brand
harmonica Reubens had as a child, and the surname Herman was the last name of an energetic boy Reubens knew from his youth.
1981–1984: The Pee-wee Herman Show in Los Angeles (1984) Reubens auditioned for the
Saturday Night Live 1980–1981 season on the same day as comedian
Gilbert Gottfried. Reubens told
Entertainment Weekly hiring both was not an option because they were "the same type of performer", and he knew immediately Gottfried would get the job. With the help of other Groundlings like John Paragon, Phil Hartman, and
Lynne Marie Stewart, Pee-wee acquired a small group of followers, and Reubens took his show to
the Roxy Theatre where
The Pee-wee Herman Show ran for five sellout months. He performed midnight shows for adults and weekly matinees for children, later entering the mainstream when
HBO aired
The Pee-wee Herman Show in 1981 as part of their series
On Location. and Reubens being described as "the weirdest comedian around". Pee-wee was both "corny" and "hip", "retrograde" and "avant-garde". When Pee-wee's fame started growing, Reubens started to move away from the spotlight, keeping his name under wraps and making all his public appearance and interviews in character while billing Pee-wee as playing himself; Reubens was trying to "get the public to think that that was a real person". Later on he would even prefer his parents be known only as Honey Herman and Herman Herman. The studio had approved a director for the film but it was a choice that neither the producers (
William E. McEuen and
Richard Gilbert Abramson) or Reubens felt was appropriate for the project. Taking inspiration from
Sylvester Stallone, who refused to cede creative control to studios, Reubens turned down Warner Bros.'s choice for the director, and the studio then told him to find someone "approvable, available, and affordable" within a week. Reubens had heard about
Tim Burton at a party the same night that he had gotten permission from the studio to get an extension on his director search. "I screened '
Frankenweenie and I spoke to
Shelley Duvall, who was a friend of mine who was in (the film)," Reubens explained. "I knew Tim was the director about 15 seconds into
Frankenweenie, like the second or third shot of it. I was looking at the wallpaper in this bedroom and the lighting and just going, 'This is the guy who has style and understands art direction.' Those were two really important things for me and my baby, I guess, and you know it just happened to luckily all work out." The film tells the story of Pee-wee Herman embarking on nationwide adventure in search of his stolen bicycle. The film went on to gross $40,940,662 domestically, recouping almost six times its $7 million budget. At the time of release in 1985, the film received mixed reviews, but ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure'' developed into a
cult film.
1986–1991: ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' After seeing the success of ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure'', the
CBS network approached Reubens with an ill-received
cartoon series proposal. Right after the success of ''Pee-wee's Big Adventure
, Reubens began working with Paramount Pictures on a sequel entitled Big Top Pee-wee''. Reubens and George McGrath's script was directed by
Grease director
Randal Kleiser. The film was not as successful as its predecessor, receiving mild reviews and doing just over one third as well in the box office, earning only $15 million. at the 1988
Academy Awards''Pee-wee's Playhouse
aired from September 13, 1986, until November 10, 1990. Reubens had originally agreed to do two more seasons after the third, and when CBS asked Reubens about the possibility of a sixth season he declined, wanting to take a sabbatical. Playhouse'' garnered 22
Emmy Awards.
1992–2002: Public retreat and comeback After his 1991 arrest (see below), Reubens kept a low profile, dedicating himself to writing and collecting a variety of things, "everything from fake food, to lamps", ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' had already ended by the time Reubens was arrested. He cited an overworked crew and a decline in the show's quality in his decision against making a sixth season. The show's popularity and quantity of episodes had allowed for rerun broadcasts, but CBS canceled the reruns on July 29, 1991. During the mid-1990s, Reubens played a recurring role on the TV series
Murphy Brown. The role earned him positive reviews and his only non-Pee-wee
Emmy nomination, for
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He appeared six times on the show between 1995 and 1997. Afterward, Reubens began working on an
NBC pilot entitled
Meet the Muckles, a show that would be based on ''
You Can't Take It with You''. The project got stuck in
development hell and was later dropped when Reubens's ideas grew too elaborate and expensive, although
Philip Rosenthal blamed NBC's negative response on Reubens being on a "blacklist". He also starred in
Dwight Yoakam's Western
South of Heaven, West of Hell, portraying a rapist and killer. In 2001, Reubens had his first extended television role since
Playhouse, as the host of the short-lived
ABC game show ''
You Don't Know Jack'', based on
the video game series of the same name. It was cancelled after six episodes due to low ratings. Reubens played a flamboyant hairdresser turned drug dealer in
Ted Demme's 2001 drama
Blow, which starred
Penélope Cruz and
Johnny Depp. His performance was praised and he began receiving scripts for potential film projects.
2004–2008: Cameos and guest appearances Reubens made cameos and guest appearances in numerous projects. He played Rick of the citizen's patrol on the popular
Comedy Central series
Reno 911!, which gained him a small role in the 2007 film
Reno 911!: Miami. In 2006, he appeared in the second music video of
the Raconteurs' song "
Steady, As She Goes". The video has the band engaging in a comical
soapbox car race, with Reubens playing the bad guy who sabotages the race. In 2007, Reubens attended his own tribute at the
SF Sketchfest, where he talked about his career with
Ben Fong-Torres. Reubens did, however, appear on the hit NBC series
30 Rock as an
inbred Austrian prince, a character
Tina Fey created for him. He also made three guest appearances on
FX's series
Dirt playing a washed-up, alcoholic reporter named Chuck Lafoon. This time he was recommended for the role by
Dirt star and close friend
Courteney Cox. Cox's husband,
David Arquette, then cast Reubens for his directorial debut, the 2007 film
The Tripper. Reubens also had small parts dubbing or making cameos in a series of
Cartoon Network projects such as the 2006 television film
Re-Animated, the
animated cartoon series
Chowder,
Tom Goes to the Mayor, and
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!. In 2008, Reubens was slated to appear as homeopathic antidepressant salesman
Alfredo Aldarisio in the third episode of
Pushing Daisies, but the role was recast with
Raúl Esparza. Reubens instead appeared in the role of
Oscar Vibenius in the series' 7th and 9th episodes. Also, during 2008, Reubens did a
PSA for Unscrew America, a website that aims to get people to change regular
light bulbs for more energy-efficient ones in the form of
CFLs and
LED. He also appeared in
Todd Solondz's
Life During Wartime. From 2009 to 2011, Reubens voiced
Bat-Mite in
Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
2009–2023: Revival and later work In January 2009, Reubens hinted that negotiations were under way for his stage show to come back, Reubens said he felt Pee-wee calling, "I just got up one day and felt like I'm gonna come back, that was it." The show is also a way to "introduce Pee-wee to the new generation that didn't know about it", preparing the way for Reubens's main project, the
Playhouse film. Before this comeback, Reubens's present age and shape had been pointed out as a possible issue, since Pee-wee's slim figure and clean skin have been one of his trademarks. But after appearing for the first time since 1992 as Pee-wee at Spike TV's 2007 Guys Choice Awards, Reubens had remained optimistic and had jokingly said he's no longer nervous about being young Pee-wee again thanks to digital retouching. To promote the show, Reubens once again gave interviews in character, appearing as a guest on
The Jay Leno Show, ''
The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien'' (as well as O'Brien's subsequent
Legally Prohibited Tour), and
Jimmy Kimmel Live!, among others. A
Twitter account, a
Facebook account, and a new website were made for Pee-wee after the show changed venues. On November 11, 2010, the show relocated to New York City for a limited run at the
Stephen Sondheim Theatre, selling over $3 million in advance tickets. An extra performance was taped for the
HBO network on January 6, 2011, and debuted March 19. From 2012 to 2013, Reubens contributed his voice talents to the animated series
Tron: Uprising as Pavel. In 2014, Reubens appeared in
TV on the Radio's music video for "
Happy Idiot". In February 2015,
Netflix acquired the rights to produce a new Pee-wee film entitled ''
Pee-wee's Big Holiday'' with Reubens and
Judd Apatow producing the film,
John Lee directing, and Reubens and
Paul Rust writing the screenplay. The film released on March 18, 2016, on
Netflix to positive reception. Reubens went on to reprise his role as pilot droid Rex in
Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, a
Star Wars-themed land that opened at
Disneyland and
Disney's Hollywood Studios at
Walt Disney World in 2019. Reubens previously portrayed the character in the original
Star Tours attraction in 1987 and
Star Wars Rebels in 2014. In Galaxy's Edge, the former Star Tours pilot droid RX-24 – "Rex" – has been reprogrammed into DJ R-3X, the house DJ of a bar and restaurant called Oga's Cantina. Reubens also voiced Ivor in
Minecraft: Story Mode, which he claimed to be among his favorite voice acting roles. ==Undeveloped scripts==