Paul Reubens | The Man Behind the Bowtie | A Docu-Mini

there's a lot of things about me you don't know anything about daddy things you wouldn't understand things you couldn't understand things you shouldn't understand few performers have become synonymous with the character they created like Paul Rubin did with pee Herman I meant to do that at the height of his popularity Paul would only appear in public as Peewee including talk shows Awards ceremonies and guest spots when the time came for Pb to headline his very own feature film he would even be credited simply as himself that's my name don't wear it out this allowed peew Herman to feel like a real person and not just a comedy character which most likely resulted in him becoming so iconic actually iconic may be too meager of a word to describe how PeeWee Herman dominated American pop culture at least for a time you go czy with talking PE talk and pewi from matchbox for you and your kid Cherry sold separately what's that made Lu it wasn't until years after peeee had exploded in popularity that Paul Rubin began to emerge as an individual performer though he could never distance himself fully from Peewee I'm such a big fan of yours Abraham thank you thank you very much it's me I've talked about similar entertainers before actors who became so identified with one of their characters that they sometimes seem to develop an antagonistic view of their zany alter egos especially as they tried to Branch out out to other things what's refreshing about Paul Rubin though is he never stopped embracing PeeWee Herman even when the character's popularity died down he spent decades fighting for opportunities to bring Peewee back resulting in one of the greatest comeback stories in comedy history can I come in I have extra blankets it's 80° in here is that a yes no but thanks when you see Paul Rubin appearing as himself in any interview the contrast between him and PeeWee is Stark this is uh this is strange I've never done this before been myself and uh I'm not sure I've been doing Peewee for so long that I I want to slip into the thing time it really makes you appreciate the character that much more this is the story of how a softspoken seemingly timid man transformed into one of the wackiest comedy Creations in the history of the medium today's secret word is begin in 1977 25-year-old Paul Rubin had just moved to California to attend Cal Arts though the school had not been his first choice as he was rejected from both Carnegie melon and juliard Paul was still elated to finally be pursuing his dream of being an actor something he had yearned to do ever since he was a young boy Paul grew up obsessed with TV and shows like howdy Duty The Mickey Mouse Club and Captain Kangaroo all of which would later greatly Inspire his own kids show look it's Billy Bodi hello Billy hello peee soon after moving to La he joined the Groundlings comedy troop where he first met future collaborators like Phil Hartman and John Paragon the latter of whom would even appear alongside Paul in an episode of The Gong Show in the late [Music] [Applause] [Music] 70s where those who knew Paul as a performer at this time often remarked that they regretted the success of PeeWee Herman as it kept the public from seeing the dozens of other comedy characters Ruben had created on stage each night the reaction was so different to that character than any other character I had done and I had 15 or 20 other characters pretty strong characters uh at the Groundlings um but I just knew somehow I just had this funny feeling like concentrate on this this is what you should be doing Paul was inspired to create the peeee character after watching standup comedians who lacked a sense of self-awareness peee was really uh an there was an extended improv being done one night at the Groundlings that was about um a fictional comedy club like The Comedy Store so everybody was trying to come up with characters who would be standup Comics at a comedy club and I can't ever remember the punchline to joke so my character was a guy who really was a terrible stand-up comic and that became people PE the first name Peewee came from a brand of miniature harmonica one of which Ruben owned oh sir sir I'm sorry I forgot to give you a favor of my pze Hermon it's worth the wallet while Herman had been the name of a high energy kid he had known in his youth aging Mr Herman Mr Herman you have a telephone call at the front desk though you would expect the character would evolve over time gradually accumulating more and more elements like the suit and bow tie Paul was always pretty adamant that the PE Herman who had later become beloved by millions was the very same PB Herman that appeared on stage that very first night you know it really kind of just came out that day it was it never changed really very much um from the first time until right this moment the initial audience response to the character was so strong that Paul decided to show up as peee to audition for The Dating Game in 1979 it was the first time I ever knew the power of pee and I walked in and the second I walked in I could tell every person working there was like holy oh my God this guy's weird man we got a good one here but I could tell they were going like this guy is on the show the show marked the first time PeeWee Herman would appear on television Bachelor number two I can't stand it when a guy is too easy how are you going to make things tough for me well for one thing I'm going to wear a bodysuit underneath my clothes the following year Paul success on on stage led to him securing a small part in The Blues Brothers we have a Don Peron $71 at $120 that'll be fine pal and later an opportunity to audition for Saturday Night Live producers ultimately passed on casting him though the J did Paul return to Los Angeles convinced his acting career was over and on the plane on the way back I totally panicked I thought like I'm going to go from up andc to you know nothing and uh I just thought you better you better really do something about this and take control then when casting the followup to Up In Smoke to be called chichin Chong's next movie Tommy Chong started scouting La improv theaters to recruit supporting players in the movie Chong was so taken with the peeee character that he hired Paul to appear as him in the film you know you you two look a little familiar to me you smell [Laughter] familiar I'm the comedian I'll tell the jokes okay if you don't mind with the money he was paid for his small role in addition to money donated by his parents Paul decided to put together a stage show starring Peewee your Market Ready Get Set no go go go go because it's time for the peeee or show together with ground Ling's colleagues Phil Hartman John Paragon and Bill Stein Kelner Paul put together a show that Drew inspiration from the children's TV shows he had grown up watching while also having an adult Edge two things a said always look explor on a mermaid I know are they round sometimes I know I know earrings PE though Peewee was the focus of the show it was more of an ensemble piece with Peewee sharing the spotlight with several crazy characters all played by fellow Groundlings performers like Lin Marie Stewart Edie mcer Phil Hartman and of course John Paragon as jie jie I told you never to call me in the Box though it premiered at Ground Lings theater in February 1981 it became so popular that 4 months later it moved to the larger Roxy Theater one of those performances was even filmed and produced as a special which aired on HBO in September and then Peewee exploded you're not going to see anything like this gentleman anywhere in the world PeeWee Herman is here tonight I say ladies and gentlemen of all ages here is the peeee Herman show please give a warm welcome to Mr he said Mr PeeWee Herman so would you welcome Mr PeeWee Herman while his popularity was aided by the HBO special and appearance in chichin Chong's next movie peew reached whole new heights thanks to a series of increasingly bizarre appearances on Late Night with David Letterman beginning in 1982 okay right right right now we're going to play a little game call called peee says okay it's really simple it's just like okay shut up okay put your put your hands the back of you like that okay look look take me downtown oh [Music] [Applause] hello okay so you could just sit down right here because now we're going to play in the in this thing right here so so I just have to you know get get all the [Laughter] [Applause] though Paul Rubin continued pursuing opportunities at playing other characters getting his first starring role in an episode of fairy tale theater I'm going to call you pinio Pinocchio not Pinocchio Pinocchio by 1985 he had committed to appearing in film and television only as Peewee I'm actually considering paying for a well well psychiatrist no no way you know one of those women who U takes care of men a nurse the character's immense popularity was not going unnoticed in Hollywood though and in 1983 Paramount pitches commissioned a futur length film vehicle starring the character my story a movie Paul originally developed the first screenplay for pb's big adventure with Gary Panter designed designer of the set for the PeeWee Herman show though Paramount optioned their script it was never produced Paul ended up with a film deal at Warner Brothers instead who commissioned a totally new script deal Paul recruited longtime collaborator Phil Hartman and screenwriter Michael varhol to develop his new take centering around peewee's quest for his missing bike everybody on a movie lot as you probably all know rides bikes and so I was going how do you get a bike you know no one I'm the only person here who doesn't have a bike and uh one day I came back from lunch and there was this beautiful 1947 fully restored Schwin racer and it was it was chained up to a post that had a sign with a character that said PB Herman bike parking only and I looked at it and went oh my God like I'm writing the wrong movie and literally this will dated a tiny bit ran in and pulled the paper out of the the electric typewriter bigger than this table um and just started you know the bike he loves the bike the only hold over from that original screen playay was the title pee's big adventure I'm trying to use the phone while Peewee himself would be an integral part of the movie I know you are but what am I you're a nerd I know you are but what am I you're an idiot I know you are but what am I I know you are but what am I the success of pb's big adventure is owed to many people including co-writers Hartman and varho and the Stellar Supporting Cast I just wanted to take a quick look at that cute little outfit you have [Music] on why don't you take a picture it'll last longer but also Tim Burton and composer Danny Elfman both of whom Paul Cherry Picked for the project uh and went on vacation while Warner Brothers read the script and they came back and said here the director of the movie which wasn't someone who was even on my list and it was someone who had made two movies that I really didn't like very much and um so I said I no that can't be the director of the movie and um I went to a party that same night and was asking everybody I knew at the party you know do you know any movie directors any new movie directors and a woman who was in the Groundlings with me named Mary Edith Burell told me oh my God I just saw this movie this morning I think she had seen it that morning um Franken weenie the guy is the perfect director for you I love that story the three men aligned perfectly on the tone of the project though resulting in an incredibly unique comedy that has stood the test of time from the Twisted burning wreck it looked like this there were so many moments in that movie that that were it's not show offy at all in style but it's stylistic like all the way through it I I think the thing that I think of the very most in that movie is the reveal of the dinosaur and when we get to the dinosaur sequence I I I go like I'll get out here and I jump out of the truck and the truck pulls away and it wipes the brain I mean it just pulls the brain and and when it pulls away it reveals those dinosaurs and when I saw that I almost person here I almost understand right now um it was just so beautiful and so what I had hoped for and somebody putting that movie together the collaboration drastically altered the career Paths of all three men especially when the movie proved to be a hit following its release in August 1985 come on Daddy Let's let's go let's go don't you want to see the rest of the movie I don't have to see it Daddy I lived it the movie introduced Peewee to a whole new audience kids radical Ruben easily shifted the way he portrayed the character to make him more familyfriendly and relatable to kids when I first started out I I didn't I was doing it in a comedy club at night where kids weren't allowed and it never really it wasn't a goal to try to figure out like what what would I chop out of this or what would I soften or what would I change in order for kids to be involved in it um but that changed very very [Applause] quickly CBS took note of this they originally commissioned a Saturday morning cartoon show starring Peewee Paul however rejected the notion of a cartoon he instead wanted to do a liveaction show that would be reminiscent of all the kids programming that he grew up watching I don't want to make a cartoon I want to make a liveaction show based or inspired by the stage show I had which in my mind I had a pilot to show somebody I could go here it's sort of like this I love that story in this way PE could appear on the show in the flesh while animated segments could still be incorporated in the form of public domain cartoon shorts let the cartoon begin and clamation segments John think you wrote it big enough John may I Ben the show would be an expanded version of the PB Herman Show featuring many of the same characters and performers put it there I love this secret word why don't you marry it also doing a lot of new things such as expanding upon the world and puppet residence of the playhouse this how am I doing me while the original stage show was essentially a parody of kids television peewee's Playhouse strived to be legitimate Children's Entertainment a show that was educational but also enjoyable for parents to watch too we're going to turn this ordinary dried up bread and do French toes speaking to Rolling Stone at the time Reuben said I'm just trying to illustrate that it's okay to be different not that it's good not that it's bad but that it's all right I'm trying to tell kids to have a good time and to encourage them to be creative and to question things do a lot of really cool stuff with a pair of giant underpants just watch [Music] look look a turban like big adventure the show was largely a group collaborative that included both children and adult performers oh well as well as musicians animators puppeteers and production designers that made the playhouse feel like a truly unique place a punk rock version of children's TV tomie there's a monster in the playhouse no kidding I thought he was your twin brother so funny I almost forgot to laugh this also meant that the production on each episode was strenuous on the creative team still the show proved to be incredibly successful both in ratings and critically winning four daytime Emy its first year today's real secret word is great with pb's Playhouse taking off it became even more important for rubben to never be seen out of character [Music] is is that Eddie no no no no I'll give you a hint die no man he presented at the 1988 Academy Awards as peeee continued making guest appearances in movies and TV shows as peeee can't anybody read signs anymore oh listen we oh good you're open and even received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame once again as Peewee it must have been incredibly hard for Paul Rubin to maintain this but it's something he did so well I always felt like there was an element of performance art to PeeWee Herman that I would try to make the public believed that that was a real person um so I guess it it was like it was really only performance art to me because no one ever knew at the time that I was a different person at this time Paramount the studio that originally passed on big adventure Lord Ruben's back for a development deal that would give him the freedom to develop and oversee more PeeWee Herman movies I need your favorite Fried Chicken no hamburgers no your favorite Peewee cheese swich no the first one would once again pay tribute to his childhood I grew up in Sarasota Florida which is the Old Winter headquarters of Ringling Brothers and I always thought I'd wind up in the circus that's what I thought I was going to really yeah in big top peewee Paul wanted to pay tribute to his Lifelong Love of the circus and its performers in a story that would see Peewee joining a traveling circus putting me out of course you're not putting me out Tim Burton was unable to direct due to his involvement with Beetlejuice and GRE director Randall Kiser was chosen as his replacement vegetarian plate no shepher pie no iive no there's a lot to admire about big top peewee for sure but audiences at the time seem not to buy into the circus concept you will enjoy the circus especially considering the movie had no ties to the highly successful TV show that was airing at the same time or the popular movie that came before it well my mistake for whatever reason Big Top pewi flopped hard opening at number seven also failing to impress critics at the time I wish there had been more of that Whimsy and less of the circus and less of the love story in big top peewee I had exactly the same reaction it seemed to me that Peewee had entered the real world marginally the film's surprise failure caused Paramount to end their development deal with Ruben's almost overnight the ordal undoubtedly affected Paul Rubin and he decided not to pursue a sixth season of peewee's playhouse the final episode aired on November 17th 1990 the playhouse will always be here for everyone to play in forever and ever and ever faced with an extended break for the first time in years Paul decided to visit family in Sarasota where personal controversy overshadowed his acting career I went many many many many many years uh without ever being photographed out of character um until one day when I was photographed out of character why don't you take a picture it'll last longer ah Paparazzi this event combined with the failure of the second movie caused him to retire Peewee for the time being he made an appearance at that Year's Video Music Awards on MTV before hanging up the bow tie for close to two decades heard any good J jokes lately over the next few years Paul reinvented himself as a character actor in film and TV he reunited with Tim Burton on Batman Returns and The Nightmare Before Christmas and later mixed things up with villainous roles in movies like Buffy the Vampire Slayer kill him a lot Dunston Checks In I haven't felt comfortable sitting on the John since since 1967 I'm Matilda if you cooperate we'll make sure it's a nice orphanage the kind with food later he was even nominated for an Emmy for his guest role on Murphy Brown in 1999 to promote his role in Mystery Men Paul even began appearing in TV interviews as himself for the first time in his career you usually come on or you have come on in the past as Peewee are you are you a little nervous in this same interview though Paul first announced his intention to bring Peewee back uh start next week writing uh a new movie called the PeeWee Herman Story So Peewee okay you got to do peewee again it's a movie about Fame about Fame PeeWee Herman becomes famous in this movie and turns into a monster though he kept pursuing character roles receiving a lot of attention for his role in 2001's blow Paul continued to talk about his desire to bring Peewee back at every opportunity though it seemed like no studios were willing to bite but then years later in 2006 Cartoon Network announced it would begin airing reruns of peewee's playhouse as part of their adult swim programming that summer while this was seen at the time as a gamble by the network it soon paid off as the show was embraced by adults who had grown up with it as children it kickstarted a nostalgic rediscovery of peee Herman to capitalize on this Peewee was invited to be a presenter at the first ever Spike TV guys Choice Awards the following year marking peewee's first public appearance in over 15 years despite having several completed scripts for potential peeee movies Paul could not seem to find any interested backers still wanting to bring Peewee back he decide to go back to Basics by orchestrating a Revival of the PeeWee Herman stage show in [Applause] 2009 the original show uh was done on a shoestring budget I borrowed $5,000 for my parents to put on the original production that included everything publicity theater rental everything so this theater th this time we have you know real budget and all real people doing everything you know real uh really unbelievably talented people Ruben's partner with theatrical producer Scott Sanders and reworked the original stage show to incorporate the world and characters later established in peewee's Playhouse no all the kings were there Larry King Stephen King Don King let me just pick up a couple of those names you just dropped the Paul had reservations about playing Peewee as an older man he found himself effortlessly slipping back into the role why don't you make me you're already made and what a mess I know you are but what am I he launched a full publicity campaign in character and suddenly Peewee was everywhere once again did you guys have a nice trip out of the [Applause] ring the show which opened in LA in early 2010 was so successful that it resulted in a limited engagement on Broadway the following year which was filmed for HBO wow you really do come in handy J best of all like Paul hoped the show made Hollywood interested in Peewee once again let's take a nice deep breath and calm down shall we huh huh before the show moved from LA to New York Jud Appel approached Paul Rubin about collaborating on a new peeee movie while Paul had a script for the next movie ready to go J wanted Paul to begin development on the film from scratch commissioning a road trip movie similar in tone to pb's Big Adventure I had two other scripts that I I thought well we'll make one of these and it'll happen tomorrow uh and he specifically said try to you do something in the same wheelhouse as big adventure and make it a road movie and I think he was right abat paired Paul with his frequent collaborator and self-confessed PeeWee fanatic Paul rust to work on this new story the the collaborator that he put me with Paul rust was so enthusiastic and so excited about writing a Peewee movie and was such a Peewee fan that he had a lot to do with Jud kind of he sort of pushed Jud over the edge to make the movie so the project eventually landed at Netflix with wonders chosen director John Lee at the helm would you like to say a few words pee oh sure uh encyclopedia uh pimple and hairball thanks to some movie trickery Paul was able to bring Peewee back to the big screen making it look like hardly any time had passed in the 28 years since the character was last seen in a [Music] movie everyone that was involved in this movie had grown up a huge PeeWee Herman fan and it's reflected in the final product and he almost started crying and I'm almost going to start to cry like telling you this so corny but he said to me like I don't know if you have any idea like who you're working with here he said but you have an entire crew of people who grew up on your show like I've never been involved in a project like this though it may lack the visual inventiveness of pb's big adventure the movie is a welcomed epilogue that feels like dropping in on an old friend you haven't seen in a while L ihbd look at the time I have to be going though Paul was hopeful there would be more Peewee movies to come shortly after the release of big holiday he was diagnosed with cancer while he kept his battle private the illness prevented him from playing the high energy PeeWee Herman ever again and peewee's big holiday would become a well-deserved Final Chapter for one of comedy's most iconic [Music] characters despite his diagnosis Paul continued attending fan convention and screenings of PeeWee films I just want to say in closing that I um part of going to these comons is so unbelievable because I feel so much love from people and I I get to sit at a table and have people tell me the most amazing beautiful touching things but I get so overwhelmed and so emotional about it that uh I just feel so incredibly blessed and lucky that uh people like what I do and I I do it for that reason I'm so glad that he was able to finally bring Peewee back into the spotlight for all the fans that had grown up with him but also for new generations who got to discover him for the very first time sadly Paul lost his battle with cancer passing away on July 30th 2023 at the age of 70 I always have trouble with goodbyes the French say o oh in an interview to promote the movie in 2017 Paul was asked why he thinks the PB character had endured for generations and his answer was humbling you know honestly this sounds bogus and dumb but um but it's the truth I feel like that's other people's thing like I I don't like to think like that about it I get asked that kind of stuff sometimes but I I really I never think about it but I'm I'm flattered you're asking me that question but I don't know I have no idea and I don't I'm I feel like I would Jinx everything for myself if I did ask myself that and or answered that though Paul didn't like to analyze why the character was so popular the answer is clear PB Herman was loved by so many for so long simply because Paul loved playing him every time we saw Peewee on screen from his countless interviews movies and TV appearances we never for a single second sense that this guy didn't absolutely love playing PeeWee Herman his love of the character was so infectious and his commitment to playing him helped us connect with PeeWee not as a character but as a person who felt real to us this is all owed to Paul Rubin who put his career as a character actor on hold to bring joy to generations of fans as PeeWee Herman today's secret word is end

Channel: Hats Off Entertainment

Views: 680,114

Keywords: hats off entertainment, joe ramoni, almost cult classics, forgotten failures, the lost version, it's not that bad, pee wee herman, pee-wee herman, paul reubens, full episodes, the pee-wee herman show, broadway, full, pee-wee's big adventure, big top pee-wee, tim burton, pee-wee's big holiday, judd apatow, interview, spike tv, redlettermedia, deleted scenes, best of, funniest scenes, mr bean, ernest, phil hartman, jambi, john paragon, bike, pee-wee's playhouse, theme

Id: qBXcYQApqrw

Length: 31min 35sec (1895 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 25 2024