Paul Reubens

Paul Reubens (August 27, 1952 - July 30, 2023) was an American actor, writer, film producer, game show host, and comedian, best known for his character ****-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor. In 1982 he began appearing in a show about a character he had been developing for years. The show, called The ****-wee Herman Show, ran for five sold-out months, and HBO produced a successful special about it.

****-wee became an instant cult figure and, for the next decade, Reubens was completely committed to his character, doing all of his public appearances and interviews as ****-wee. His feature film ****-wee's Big Adventure (1985), directed by the then-unknown Tim Burton, was a financial and critical success and soon developed into a cult film. Its sequel, Big Top ****-wee (1988), was less successful. Between 1986 and 1990, Reubens starred as ****-wee in the CBS Saturday-morning children's program ****-wee's Playhouse.