July 30th brought us the very sad news that Pee-Wee Herman star Paul Reubens had died after a six year-long battle with cancer.
Most known for the Herman character, Reubens was intertwined with Pee-Wee his entire professional life. Beginning his career in 1980, Reubens took to the stage as Herman in a wildly successful comedy revue. After several cameo appearances as the character on both the big and small screen, Reubens finally got to take his creation to the big screen in 1985 with the cult classic film Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Following the success of the film, Reubens would take to television with the hugely popular children’s show Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. The character would also return to the big screen in 1988’s Big Top Pee-Wee and remain a firm favourite for cameos and guest spots for the rest of Reubens’ life.
However, what you may not know is that Paul Reubens also had a considerable presence in the horror genre. Beginning in 1982, Reubens parodied the burgeoning slasher movie craze starring opposite Carol Kane in Pandemonium. A decade later the actor landed a sizeable role in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the cult classic flick that would later spawn a hugely popular television series. Reubens most well-known genre part came in 1993, when he lent his unique voice to the character of Lock in The Nightmare Before Christmas. Finally, Reubens can also be seen in the David Arquette-directed slasher The Tripper from 2007, which remains his last genre role to date.
Working predominantly in television and as a voice actor for the better part of the last two decades, Reubens ensured he was still a well-known presence even if he was not on-screen. Due to a somewhat turbulent personal life, the actor chose to largely withdraw from physically appearing on-screen, but gained almost one hundred credits using his vocal talents.
With a prolific career that saw him become one of the most culturally recognisable figures of the 1980s, Paul Reubens will be sorely missed by the industry. We hope he rests easy.
