# RIP Paul Reubens {July 30,2023} **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [July 31, 2023, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880 "2023-07-31T17:11:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/81 "2023-08-01T17:07:01Z")
We lost Paul and Pee-Wee. They might as well have been different people up until now. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/82 "2023-08-01T17:44:48Z")
> **[The Legacy of Pee-wee Herman and the Uncanny Awesomeness of Large Marge](https://www.tor.com/2023/08/01/the-uncanny-awesomeness-of-large-marge-in-pee-wees-big-adventure/)** > > Pee-wee’s Big Adventure was a foundational text—I’m guessing for a lot of us here—and there’s one scene in particular that seems to live on in people’s minds. I am speaking, of course, of Large Mar… ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/83 "2023-08-01T18:15:37Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > The Paul Reubens stories on Twitter are incredible. I listen to Conan O’Brien’s podcast, and remember when Paul Reubens was a guest. He pointed out that Paul always remembered Conan’s birthday, and sent him a funny meme every year on his birthday. Every single year. And he did that for everyone he knew. Imagine someone of Paul’s fame taking the time to keep track of everyone’s birthdays to let them know he remembered and help them feel special. > I remember one Conan podcast where it was being recorded on his birthday, and he interrupted it with laughter because he’d just received a text from Paul. ---
**Author:** ![Disinfectus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/disinfectus/32/11085_2.png) [@Disinfectus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disinfectus)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/84 "2023-08-01T18:21:24Z")
> [@Mallard](#): > > Only 2 people have ever been shot in a theatre; Abraham Lincoln & the guy sitting in front of peewee Herman. If only that were true. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/85 "2023-08-01T18:24:27Z")
There’s some good research in this article. Playhouse often went over budget and Paul paid. He was a perfectionist. > **[27 Fun Facts About Pee-wee’s Playhouse](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/59799/27-fun-facts-about-pee-wees-playhouse)** > > Paul Reubens takes us back to Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Here are some facts about the Saturday morning show. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/86 "2023-08-01T18:38:11Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > If only that were true. There was a whole series of shootings in movie theaters from what I recall. It’s a really bad joke on many levels. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/87 "2023-08-01T18:38:30Z")
“ I assume [Marge] inspired Hong Chau’s Marge in _Poker Face_…” I assume she also inspired Cherry Jones’ character in the _Black Mirror_ episode “Nosedive.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/88 "2023-08-01T19:07:00Z")
Skipping to post, before going to back to read the new posts. I keep hearing ‘Pee-wee Herman’ being described as a ‘man-child’. To me, that means a grown man who behaves like a child. In my mind, Pee-wee was an _actual_ child (being portrayed by an adult actor). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/89 "2023-08-01T19:15:43Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > “ I assume [Marge] inspired Hong Chau’s Marge in _Poker Face_…” Incidentally, Natasha Lyonne, who played Charlie Cale in _Poker Face_, was in six episodes of _Pee-wee’s Playhouse_ as a little girl named Opal. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/90 "2023-08-01T19:15:50Z")
The problem is that, for those of us born in the late 40s, what he was imitating was the great Pinky Lee (1907–1993). See [https://youtu.be/p2lhEIXedg0](https://youtu.be/p2lhEIXedg0) for an example. This show was on five days a week. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/91 "2023-08-01T19:31:50Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > In my mind, Pee-wee was an _actual_ child (being portrayed by an adult actor). Which one? The Pee-wee Herman of _Pee-wee’s Playhouse_ might have been. He had a clubhouse where he hung out with his friends then left on a scooter at the end of the day. That could very well have been a child. Though the mutual attraction with Miss Yvonne would make that a bit creepy. The Pee-wee Herman in the movies was clearly an adult. In _Big Adventure_, a bike shop employee has a crush on him, he has adventures in a biker bar, is later arrested but agrees to sell his rights to a movie studio and the charges are dropped. In _Big Top_, he has a fiancee and owns a farm. I haven’t seen the third film, but apparently he starts it off as a fry cook at a diner. Maybe it was the same character who had just gotten older in the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/92 "2023-08-01T19:40:49Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > The credits for Big Adventure also Pee Wee as being portrayed by himself. I don’t have to see it, Dottie. I lived it! > [@blondebear](#): > > Thanks to his Big Adventure I found out you could go up inside the T-Rex at Cabazon Because of the movie, I always stopped at the EAT cafe there when I’d drive by. But I never ever had the guts to say “large Marge sent me.” I never could even guess how they’d react. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/93 "2023-08-01T19:43:13Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > The problem is that, for those of us born in the late 40s, what he was imitating was the great Pinky Lee (1907–1993). See [https://youtu.be/p2lhEIXedg0](https://youtu.be/p2lhEIXedg0) for an example. This show was on five days a week. I had heard the name Pinky Lee but didn’t know anything about him. That show was insane and it’s obvious that Pee Wee was heavily inspired by Pinky. Thanks for sharing that. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/94 "2023-08-01T20:03:20Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I had heard the name Pinky Lee but didn’t know anything about him. I heard the name when I was a kid, but his show ended before I existed. [Rumors that he had died of a heart attack, prompted by the incident, persisted for decades.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinky_Lee) And this is all I ‘knew’ about him. That he had a kids’ show before I was born, and that he’d died on-camera. Also, 🎶 _Hi-ho, hi-hee, my name is Pinky…ARGGGHHHHH!_ 🎶 It wasn’t until much later that I learned that he _didn’t_ die on-camera, and that ‘The Peanut Gallery’ came from his show, and not that other one that ended before I was born (_Howdy Doody_). ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/95 "2023-08-01T20:05:14Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > > [@Mallard](#): > > > > Only 2 people have ever been shot in a theatre; Abraham Lincoln & the guy sitting in front of peewee Herman. > > If only that were true. Good point. There may have been more in front of peewee. 🫢 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/96 "2023-08-01T20:06:33Z")
> [@John\_W.Kennedy](#): > > the great Pinky Lee I saw that clip. That dude was AMAZING. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/97 "2023-08-01T20:28:44Z")
As a native Texan, the best part of the movie and still quoted today: “The stars at night are big and bright!” I won’t type the rest since you just heard it in your head. I wonder how often the docents at the Alamo are asked to see the basement. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/98 "2023-08-01T20:31:00Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > I wonder how often the docents at the Alamo are asked to see the basement. According to an Instagram post from the Alamo’s official IG page which I saw earlier today, and which is a tribute to Reubens, the answer is “every day.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/99 "2023-08-01T20:44:52Z")
According to my Amazon purchase history, I have these DVDs: - _The Pee-wee Herman Show - Live At The Roxy Theatre_ - _Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Seasons 1 & 2_ - _Pee-wee’s Playhouse, Seasons 3 - 5_ - _Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special_ I don’t have _Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure_ or _Big Top Pee-wee_. 😲 So I thought I’d pick up the former. Guess what? ‘Currently unavailable.’ I’ll have to wait a while… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/100 "2023-08-01T21:12:24Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I don’t have _Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure_ or _Big Top Pee-wee_. 😲 Or Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, his third movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880.md?page=6)