Variety

Paul Reubens Remembered: As Pee-wee Herman, His Impact Spanned Generations

Everyone seems to have a personal story about Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman. And those stories seem always to revolve around birthdays. I didn’t know Reubens, but apparently half of the people on ...
NPR

'Pee-wee as Himself' is a portrait of a private man and his public alter ego

Pee-wee As Himself tells the story of how a kid who grew up adoring The Little Rascals and I Love Lucy went on to revolutionize sketch comedy and children's television. In 1986, one of the most ...
Los Angeles Times

‘Pee-wee as Himself’ gives Paul Reubens the final word on his identity

“I was born in 1938 in a little house on the edge of the Mississippi River; my father worked on a steamboat and his name was Steamboat Milton,” says Paul Reubens by way of misdirection in Matt Wolf’s ...
Los Angeles Times

Everyone knew Pee-wee Herman. But few knew the man behind the man-child

The first time we see Paul Reubens in the documentary “Pee-wee as Himself,” he is not playing Pee-wee Herman, the antic man-child he portrayed in comedy routines, movies, a children’s TV show and most ...
NPR

Paul Reubens steps out from behind his famous character in 'Pee-Wee as Himself'

Before his death in 2023, Reubens filmed an HBO documentary in which he explained why he refused to be seen or interviewed as himself for the whole time Pee-Wee Herman was starring in TV and films.