# 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:** 6
**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, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/101 "2023-08-01T22:02:19Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Or Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, his third movie. I’ve not seen that one; only the other two. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/102 "2023-08-01T22:03:31Z")
I never got the hoopla about him in the theatre. I mean, I was somewhat younger at the time, but don’t people just do that in adult theaters? I’ve never been to one, so perhaps I misunderstand. I’ve always assumed there was a lot of masturbating going on in that environment. I’ve been to adult video stores and the “preview” rooms I’ve seen have Kleenex in them, so I’ve also always assumed one has a tug in there, too. Maybe I just don’t understand the world. ---
**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, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/103 "2023-08-01T22:23:05Z")
Yes, but it wasn’t legal. Sometimes the police had nothing better to do than to harass the patrons. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/104 "2023-08-01T22:58:50Z")
I loved _Pee-wee’s Playhouse,_ and was seriously bummed when it was suddenly taken off the air. As I mentioned in the Death Pool thread, I was young enough that I didn’t understand what he had done; my parents explained it as “he took his pants off in public.” I’m really enjoying all the stories people are telling about Paul though; I hadn’t followed his later career, and it sounds like he was really a great guy. RIP, Paul. ---
**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, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/105 "2023-08-01T23:17:18Z")
> [@WolfpackJeep](#): > > I was young enough that I didn’t understand what he had done; my parents explained it as “he took his pants off in public.” Honestly, that was mostly it. If his pants were still on, I don’t think he would have been charged. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/106 "2023-08-01T23:32:16Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I was somewhat younger at the time, but don’t people just do that in adult theaters? The difference between a theater and a private booth is that you can offer the person sitting next to you some popcorn from the bucket in your lap. _“Why, that’s not popcorn!”_😲 _“Nope. And that ain’t butter, neither.”_😉 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/107 "2023-08-01T23:39:51Z")
> [@Drum\_God](#): > > I wonder how often the docents at the Alamo are asked to see the basement. There is one, you know. It’s just not period. I saw it on the Smithsonian Channel. Kind of a letdown, really. I was expecting more Living History, not office space! ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/108 "2023-08-02T03:53:34Z")
> [@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. Pinky Lee was still recognizable as an adult man, though. I’m not really sure what to say about the presentation of Reubens/Pee Wee Herman. From what I have read about his personal life, he had a couple of public girlfriends, but again with the descriptions there I expect he never expressed his sexuality physically with another person. Obviously he had desires. It’s just interesting that the real Reubens probably played a lot into his presentations as an actor (as well as to a degree some of the scuzzy characters he played when not in Pee Wee Herman mode.) ---
**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 2, 2023, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/109 "2023-08-02T04:11:49Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > I’m not really sure what to say about the presentation of Reubens/Pee Wee Herman. From what I have read about his personal life, he had a couple of public girlfriends, but again with the descriptions there I expect he never expressed his sexuality physically with another person. I think he was just private about stuff. The movie theater incident was embarrassing, but he never really revealed much about his private life. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/110 "2023-08-02T04:17:03Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I was a little too old to watch his show as a child. Which means i was old enough to be outraged at his arrest. I didn’t even know who he was, that was my introduction to his character. But it felt so unfair and arbitrary. Raiding “adult theaters” and gay bars is so cruel and pointless. So i guess i owe him for teaching me that. A post I could have written. When his arrest was splashed all over the news, I barely knew who he was, but the whole thing felt, as **puzzlegal** says, “unfair and arbitrary.” Not to mention bigoted against gay people. That was well before “Me Too” and a lot of genuinely loathsome behaviors came to light, like Bill Cosby drugging women for sex, or Louis CK masturbating in front of powerless women, or Harvey Weinstein requiring sexual favors in exchange for acting opportunities. Harmlessly masturbating in a theatre is nothing like those behaviors. I am happy that Paul Reubens was at least partly able to restore his career afterward. ---
**Author:** ![Jay\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Jay\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jay_Z)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/111 "2023-08-02T04:28:21Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I think he was just private about stuff. The movie theater incident was embarrassing, but he never really revealed much about his private life. Fred Rogers was married for more than 50 years. Reubens could have gotten married, or had a string of girlfriends, or a string of boyfriends, or whatever he wanted to do. But I don’t think that he ever had a partner. Something would have come out. The movie theaters etc. were his sex life. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/112 "2023-08-02T04:55:48Z")
> [@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. “Weatherbird shoes for boys and also for girls.” That’s quite the catchy slogan. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/113 "2023-08-02T05:19:08Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > The Spleen is gone. Alas. > > Great comic presence. His death scene in the Buffy movie made the film. And now we can definitively say it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![nate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nate/32/13085_2.png) [@nate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nate)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/114 "2023-08-02T06:50:27Z")
“Paging Mr. Herman, Mr. Herman you have a telephone call at the front desk” ---
**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 2, 2023, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/115 "2023-08-02T14:57:02Z")
> [@Jay\_Z](#): > > The movie theaters etc. were his sex life. I don’t think that can be determined based on a single incident. That’s pure speculation. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/116 "2023-08-02T15:15:38Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > , or Harvey Weinstein requiring sexual favors in exchange for acting opportunities. [hijack] One of the great things about the “Me Too” movement was the realization that the “humor” involved in the “casting couch” wasn’t funny at all. Why did it take that long? I was always uncomfortable with the song from The Producers (musical) “I Want to Be a Producer”, and it took Me Too for my brain to click. I thought it was because the whole thing was out of character for Leo; no, it wasn’t funny to begin with. [/hijack] OK, back on track. You’re absolutely correct - truly awful things have been known about a number of entertainment moguls, and they kept going. Paul Rubens has one personal event, and the world goes ape-shit. I suppose part of it is because he was known as a children’s entertainer, but it’s not like it was kiddy porn. ---
**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 2, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/117 "2023-08-02T15:27:36Z")
> [@Disinfectus](#): > > I don’t think that can be determined based on a single incident. That’s pure speculation. His public sex life was unfortunately a matter of interest, but only to the type of minds I won’t categorize at the moment. His private sex life was and still is not our business at all, so nothing to determine or speculate about at all. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/118 "2023-08-02T16:20:02Z")
I have a Pinky Lee suit (kid’s size, I think it’s supposed to be pajamas)! [![](https://i.imgur.com/RJ7JtIc.jpg) ](https://i.imgur.com/RJ7JtIc.jpg) I offered to give it to Paul via my sister. He said no thanks, he had enough junk in his house already. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/119 "2023-08-02T18:29:04Z")
A lot of neat tributes and facts in here. I watched Playhouse as a kid and it’s definitely part of my childhood. But, to this Flight of the Navigator fan, Paul Reubens is, and will always be, MAX. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880/120 "2023-08-02T19:00:30Z")
Wow, I had no idea he voiced Max… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-paul-reubens-july-30-2023/987880.md?page=7)