Most of us know him simply as Pee-Wee Herman. But Paul Reubens did a lot more than that in the world of acting.

Paul Reubens’ death was announced recently. Reubens’ estate made the announcement on his social media page. The post revealed that the Pee-Wee’s Playhouse’s actor had been secret battling cancer for the last six years. He finally succumbed to the disease on July 30, 2023, at the age of 70.

Tributes started pouring in for the actor immediately after his death was announced. Devastated fans wrote that they remembered Reubens mostly from his role as the iconic Pee-Wee Herman. A role Reubens developed originally as a stand-up comedy routine. It gained such popularity that it almost immediately lead to an HBO special in 1981. And from there, the Pee-Wee empire was born.

But Reubens had roots in comedy long before his 1980’s television comedy gigs. He was a member of the popular Groundlings improvisation school in Los Angeles for six years in the 1970’s. That is where he began his creation of the iconic Pee-Wee character. Which was debuted in the late 1970’s on The Dating Game, according to Wikipedia.

The Pee-Wee Herman character was unique from other television show personas.

Because Herman was treated in the media like he was a real person who was playing himself in various films. In fact, Paul Reubens doesn’t have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Pee-Wee Herman does. Reubens played into this reality by giving an entire backstory on the character while doing interviews as Pee-Wee. Including family members names and his location of birth.

After Pee-Wee’s Playhouse became such worldwide sensation, Reubens ran with the success and made several movies with the character. Including Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure and Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday. And in the shadow of such a big empire, Reubens other roles got lost. Here are ten of his best.

– Wendy Rush, 96.3 KKLZ

• 30 Rock

  This is one of Reubens’ most hilarious roles ever. For a single episode, he played Prince Gerhardt, a completely awkward royal with all kinds of issues from years of being inbred. The role was done with such over-the-top comedic brilliance, fans were disappointed it was just for one episode.

• Mystery Men

  Reubens in the role of Mr. Spleen was unique in its own way. Because while he was obviously channeling his comedic side, the character was committed to his seriousness. Which is harder to play than some people may think. But not for an improvisation genius like Paul Reubens.

• Flight of the Navigator

  Another role that showed Reubens’ versatility. He played the voice of Max the spaceship’s controller. He did it so straightforward that viewers didn’t even realize it was Reubens. At least not until the second half of the movie when Reubens starts including Pee-Wee Herman-esque inflections into the character. Reubens so wanted his appearance in the movie to be a surprise, that he insisted he not be credited by his real name.

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer

  While this isn’t one of his strongest roles, it still deserves some attention. Because it shows that Reubens had range even in his comedy. Reubens brings his brand of quirky comedy to the role of Lefty, the sidekick of the vampire king, in a much subtler way than his other comedic roles.

• The Blacklist

  Reubens shines in his role of Mr. Vargas on this HBO series. The character is intriguing to watch because you’ll see a bit of the Pee-Wee Herman facial expressions come out, but Mr. Vargas is anything but a quirky, fun-loving kid.

• Blow

  Reubens played drug king Derek Foreal in this 2001 film. It was a role that showed the world Reubens could play a serious character. And Reubens nails it. So much so that he upstages even Johnny Depp in a lot of the movie.

   

• Gotham

  Reubens delighted fans when he appeared as the Penguin’s son in both the Gotham series and Batman Returns. It’s an interesting role to watch Reubens in because he plays a good guy, but sort of has this subtext of evil. Maybe it’s because he feels affection for his serial killer son, or another reason. But Reubens walks that line between good and bad in this role.

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