The public had no idea he was sick, so how Paul Reubens died came as a shock to the entertainment industry when news broke of his passing on July 31, 2023.
Born as Paul Rubenfeld on August 27, 1952, Reubens was an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer best known for creating and portraying the iconic character Pee-wee Herman. In the late 1970s, Reubens developed the character of Pee-wee Herman, a quirky, childlike man with a distinctive high-pitched voice and a penchant for red bow ties and gray suits.
The character’s innocent and naïve personality was a blend of humor and satire and appealed to both children and adults. “I always viewed Pee-Wee Herman as somebody with a really good heart, but like, you know didn’t have a clue about a lot of things,” he once told NBC News. “Somebody who was truly naive and was trying to do the best he could do, but it didn’t always come out like that.”
Pee-wee Herman was introduced through a live stage show called The Pee-Wee Herman Show in 1981. The show was a hit and caught the attention of Hollywood producers, which led to Pee-Wee’s first television special, The Pee-Wee Herman Show, which aired on HBO in 1981. In 1986, Reubens created the wildly successful children’s television program Pee-wee’s Playhouse. The show combined live-action, puppetry, and animation, earning critical acclaim and multiple Emmy Awards. It became a cultural phenomenon and further solidified Reubens’ status as a comedic genius.
But on July 31, 2023, the world was left saddened by the news that Paul Reuben had died because no one saw it coming.
How did Paul Reubens die?
How did Paul Reubens die? Paul Reubens passed away at age 70 after a private battle with an undisclosed type of cancer, according to a statement issued to his official Instagram page.
“Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy and belief in the importance of kindness,” the announcement read. “Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. A gifted and prolific talent, he will forever live in the comedy pantheon and in our hearts as a treasured friend and man of remarkable character and generosity of spirit.”
In a personal statement written before his passing, Reubens addressed his time away from the limelight in a social media post shared after the news broke of his death. “Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” he wrote. “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.” In a separate statement, Reubens requested “sympathy be made in honor of [his] late parents, Judy and Milton Rubenfeld, to Stand Up to Cancer or organizations involved in Dementia and Alzheimer’s care, support and research.”
Capitalizing on his character’s popularity, Reubens starred in the film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, directed by Tim Burton, which was released in 1985. The film was a commercial and critical success and to this day, on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 87 percent of 46 critics gave it a positive review, with an average rating of 7.85/10.
“Tim went to CalArts, strangely enough, but he was there after me and we didn’t know each other. I turned in the script of the movie with a list of about 200 directors I had gotten out of a directors’ book who I thought were good. The studio then settled on one director who wasn’t on my list and that I thought was absolutely wrong,” Reubens told Paul Rudd in an Interview article published in 2009. But friends kept saying they were creatively “made” for each other. “When I screened the short film the next day, I knew in the first six shots that I wanted him to do it. It was absolutely incredible. It was the biggest piece of luck early on in my career that I could have had. We were completely simpatico. He was 26 years old at the time.”
Though he was a beloved TV character and actor, Reubens’ career was not without controversy. In 1991, he was arrested for indecent exposure at an adult movie theater, which became somewhat of a popular punchline. But a decade later, Reubens was arrested again—this time for possession of child pornography. His lawyer argued that a tape seized in another case had been mistakenly included in the evidence against Reubens, and three years later, the child pornography charge was dropped, with Rubens pleading guilty to a charge of obscenity instead.
“I probably have become more infamous from two misdemeanors than probably anyone I could think of,” he once told NBC News. When Stone Phillips asked him what he was thinking in 1991, he responded: “Well, obviously I wasn’t thinking. You Know? I certainly wasn’t thinking to myself you’re a children’s show host. Your show is still on television. I wasn’t making those lists. I felt like they were insinuating like, well, I was sitting in you know, a darkened movie theater, in my Pee-Wee suit.”
Phillips responded: “But you had to know that being caught in a place like that, being a children’s entertainer, would lead to everything getting blown up,” to which Reubens replied: “I guess I did have to know that. But yet, there I was. I mean that didn’t seem like a crime to me. It didn’t seem like anyone’s business but my own.”
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