Pee-wee Herman
Paul Reubens, AKA Pee-Wee Herman was born Paul Reubenfeld on August 27, 1952 in Peekskill, New York.
		Born in upstate New York, Paul Reubenfeld grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where his parents owned and operated a lamp store. During winters, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus called Sarasota home, and young Paul counted such big-top families as the Wallendas and the Zacchinis among his neighbors. At the age of eleven, Reubenfeld joined the local Asolo Theater, and during the next six years, he appeared in a variety of plays. After graduating from high school, he attended Boston University for one year before deciding to seek his fortune as Paul Reubens in Hollywood.
A struggling comedian in the late '70s, Paul joined a comedy troupe called the Groundlings. The name was a reference to Hamlet, where Shakespeare refers to the poorer members of the audience in Elizabethan times. He also legally changed his last name to Reubens, because he preferred it as a stage name.
Pee-Wee Herman, a quirky bow-tied man-child, debuted in 1978. The character was inspired by a boy Reubens met in camp when he was younger. His voice was modeled after a role he played as a child actor. Pee-Wee was able to get gigs in many clubs that would not hire Reubens.
Reubens was also in a number of films in the early '80s, including Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, where he is a hotel clerk and appears as Pee-wee, Cheech and Chong's Nice Dreams, where he is a coke-snorting psycho "Hamburger Man," and he was Pinocchio in the Faerie Tale Theater production.
As Pee-Wee, Reubens tried out for Saturday Night Live. When he didn't make it, he appeared in more movies and tv shows, and began writing a feature length film starring Pee-wee. Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, directed by Reubens' friend Tim Burton, was a great success. Reubens was soon offered a deal to do a children's show.
Pee-Wee's Playhouse had an enormous budget of $325,000 per episode. Reubens had complete creative control, except he wasn't allowed to say, "If you show me yours, I'll show you mine." Although the Playhouse was considered a children's show, many of the viewers were adults who had been fans of Pee-wee's stage show. During the Playhouse's five-year run, Reubens never appeared in public without the customary grey suit and red bow-tie. He even granted interviews in full Pee-Wee regalia.
On July 26, 1991, the world of Pee-wee came crashing down. Reubens fell victim to a police sting operation when he allegedly exposed himself in a Sarasota porn theater. He had been in Florida visiting his parents. When the police recognized Pee-Wee Herman under Reubens' vacation-time long hair and goatee, all hell broke loose. The Playhouse was taken off the airwaves, and Pee-Wee merchandise was yanked off the shelves. Reubens paid $85 in court costs, a $50 indecent exposure fine, and made a thirty second anti-drug commercial. His criminal record was erased.
		Later in 1991, he appeared as Pee-Wee on the MTV Video Music Awards as a guest. Having been the butt of hundreds of jokes, he asked the audience if they'd "Heard any good jokes lately?"
	Reubens went on to star in and do voices for several movies. In 1992 he could be seen biting people's necks in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and as the Penguin's father in Batman Returns. He was Professor Spatz, a gorilla expert, in 1997's Buddy, and he wielded a shotgun in Dunston Checks In. In 1999, he appeared in Mystery Men as "The Spleen." In 2001, he appeared in Blow as a hair-dresser/drug dealer. Also in 2001, Reubens said that Pee-wee will be back in two new movies, one for adults and one for kids. Most recently he was the host of the short-lived ABC gameshow, You Don't Know Jack!
				Source: Coolcat's Ultimate PW Website, E!, Mr. Showbiz