94 Fun Facts About Pee-wee Herman

Which rock frontman got his first major studio film score with Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo had never scored a studio film; a four-track demo he sent in, expecting to hear nothing back, became the main title and won him the job.

Pee-wee Herman was developed in the 1970s at which improv troupe?

The Groundlings set an improv exercise: play someone you might meet at a comedy club. Reubens came up with a comic so inept he would obviously never make it.

Which future SNL star co-developed the Pee-wee character with Reubens?

Phil Hartman, Reubens's improv colleague, helped develop the character, played Captain Carl on stage and on Playhouse, and co-wrote Pee-wee's Big Adventure with him.

What is Pee-wee's famous insult comeback?

'I know you are, but what am I?' is Pee-wee's stock retort to any insult, repeated until the exchange escalates to 'Infinity!' in Pee-wee's Big Adventure.

Pee-wee's grey glen plaid suit was a loan Reubens never returned; who lent it to him?

His improv troupe's director, Gary Austin, lent Reubens the handmade grey suit and never got it back; a child's bow tie handed to him before a show finished the look.

Which manic 1950s children's TV host is often named as the model for Pee-wee's checkered look and persona?

Pinky Lee sang about his checkered hat and coat on his frantic 1950s kids' show; a Playhouse composer who grew up watching it said Reubens 'wore something similar to what Pinky wore'.

Where did the name 'Pee-wee' come from?

A brand of miniature harmonica: Reubens owned a tiny Pee Wee harmonica, and 'Herman' was the surname of an energetic boy he knew as a child, so the name felt too real to be invented.

On which game show did Reubens first take Pee-wee on screen, appearing three times as a contestant?

The Dating Game was a test run: Reubens went to a cattle-call audition in character, was called back before he got home, and on one of his three appearances even won the date.

Pee-wee's first film appearance was a small role in which 1980 comedy?

Cheech & Chong's Next Movie put Pee-wee on the big screen for the first time as a foul-tempered hotel desk clerk, a far cry from the sweet children's host he became.

Which cable network aired Pee-wee's stage show as a special in 1981?

HBO taped one of the Los Angeles performances for its On Location comedy series, taking the adult-oriented act to a national audience.

Regular guest spots on which late-night host's show made Pee-wee a national name in the early 1980s?

David Letterman happily played the foil on Late Night while Pee-wee ran wild, and the exposure gave Reubens the profile to take his stage act on a national tour.

Which famous New York venue did Pee-wee Herman sell out in 1984?

Carnegie Hall sold out as he toured the stage act across the country in 1984, and its success brought Warner Bros. calling with the offer of a film.

Which director made his feature debut with Pee-wee's Big Adventure in 1985?

Tim Burton, a former Disney animator, was hired after Reubens saw his 1984 short Frankenweenie; the film's success led to Beetlejuice and then Batman.

Hiding from Simone's jealous boyfriend at a rodeo in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee is forced to do what?

Ride a bull: his cowboy get-up works too well, and the animal throws him and knocks him out, then turns on his pursuer and chases him off instead.

Reubens's first Pee-wee film script retold which children's story, before the bicycle idea took over?

Pollyanna was the plan, with Pee-wee winning over a town of curmudgeons, until the studio gave Reubens a 1940s bicycle to ride around the lot and a stolen-bike plot took over.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, a phony psychic tells Pee-wee his stolen bike is hidden where?

In the basement of the Alamo, says the psychic Madam Ruby; the punchline, delivered by tour guide Jan Hooks in San Antonio, is that the Alamo has no basement.

Which ghostly character gives Pee-wee a ride in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Large Marge, played by Alice Nunn, is the ghost of a truck driver who died ten years earlier; her face bulges into stop-motion horror as she tells the tale.

Which song does Pee-wee dance to in platform shoes to win over a biker gang?

Tequila, the 1958 instrumental by The Champs, is the record Pee-wee plays at the biker bar; the Satan's Helpers reward the dance with a motorcycle he promptly crashes.

Which heavy metal band appears in Pee-wee's Big Adventure during the studio chase scene?

Twisted Sister, fronted by Dee Snider, is shown shooting a music video on the Warner backlot, and Pee-wee's chase tears straight through the band's set.

In the film-within-a-film at the end of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, who plays 'P.W. Herman'?

James Brolin plays the square-jawed 'P.W. Herman' in the Hollywood version, opposite Morgan Fairchild as Dottie, after Pee-wee trades his story rights for the return of his bike.

Who plays Dottie, the bike-shop employee with a crush on Pee-wee, in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Elizabeth Daily, later known as E.G. Daily, plays Dottie and went on to voice Tommy Pickles on Rugrats; Diane Salinger plays the waitress Simone.

What is the name of Pee-wee's spoiled neighbour and rival who has his bike stolen?

Francis Buxton, the rich neighbour played by Mark Holton, covets the bike, is refused, and pays to have it stolen, setting the whole cross-country search in motion.

Which roadside California landmark features in Pee-wee's Big Adventure's sunrise scene with Simone?

The Cabazon Dinosaurs, giant concrete roadside sculptures in Southern California, host the scene: Simone confides her big dream from inside one of them as the sun comes up.

Made for about $7 million, Pee-wee's Big Adventure took roughly how much at the North American box office?

$41 million, nearly six times its budget: a surprise hit that brought Reubens a network offer of his own Saturday-morning show.

Pee-wee's stage show ran for five sold-out months in 1981 at which Sunset Strip rock club?

The Roxy took the show once it outgrew its first small theater; midnight performances played to adults and matinees to families.

On which network did Pee-wee's Playhouse air on Saturday mornings from 1986?

CBS put the show in its Saturday-morning lineup in September 1986, giving Reubens full creative control; it ran there for five seasons and won multiple Daytime Emmys.

What were viewers told to do whenever a character said the day's 'secret word' on Pee-wee's Playhouse?

Scream real loud was the rule, and the secret words were everyday ones such as 'this' and 'on', which guaranteed the screaming rarely stopped.

Who played Cowboy Curtis on Pee-wee's Playhouse?

Laurence Fishburne has said he first auditioned as a dark, serious, Yul Brynner sort of cowboy and was asked to lighten it up; the jheri-curled Cowboy Curtis was the result.

What kind of being is Jambi on Pee-wee's Playhouse?

A disembodied genie's head: Jambi, played by John Paragon, lives in a jewelled box and grants wishes with the chant 'Mecca-lecca-hi, mecca-hiney-ho'.

Which pop star secretly sang the Pee-wee's Playhouse theme, credited as 'Ellen Shaw'?

Cyndi Lauper sang it in a Betty Boop squeak, then had her name taken off: she was being sold as a serious singer, and a kids' show credit didn't fit.

Playhouse's $325,000-an-episode budget, huge for Saturday morning, matched the cost of what kind of show?

A prime-time sitcom cost about the same, and Pee-wee bristled when asked about it: why shouldn't children's programs be as expensive as the things we watch at night?

What 1988 Hollywood walkout cut the third season of Pee-wee's Playhouse to just two regular episodes?

A writers' strike, the 1988 Writers Guild walkout, halted production, so the season came to two episodes and a prime-time Christmas special; the full run still reached 45.

Which singer performed a funky 'Little Drummer Boy' on the 1988 Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special?

Grace Jones popped out of a delivery box in a metallic avant-garde outfit to sing it; Cher, Dinah Shore and Little Richard also dropped in on the special.

Pee-wee was a guest on the October 1986 premiere of whose short-lived Fox late-night show?

Joan Rivers opened The Late Show on the new Fox network on 9 October 1986 with Pee-wee, Cher and Elton John as guests; Fox dropped her as host the following May.

In Big Top Pee-wee (1988), what animal is Pee-wee's talking farm assistant Vance?

A pig: Vance is Pee-wee's talking farmhand on a spread where hot dogs grow on trees, until a storm drops an entire circus in the yard.

Who directed Big Top Pee-wee?

Randal Kleiser, the director of Grease, took over when the first film's director did not return; the sequel went on to lose money.

Which country singer-actor co-starred as circus boss Mace Montana in Big Top Pee-wee?

Kris Kristofferson plays Mace Montana, whose travelling circus lands on Pee-wee's farm after a storm and then has to win over a town that wants it gone.

Where did Reubens first appear after his 1991 arrest, asking if anyone had heard any good jokes lately?

The MTV Video Music Awards, in September 1991, brought Reubens out to a standing ovation with the line 'Heard any good jokes lately?', his first public appearance since the arrest.

Which streaming service released the third Pee-wee film, Pee-wee's Big Holiday, in 2016?

Netflix stepped in after Universal, where the film had first been set up, passed following several years of development.

Which actor plays himself and befriends Pee-wee in Pee-wee's Big Holiday?

Joe Manganiello, playing himself, rolls into Fairville on a motorcycle, bonds with Pee-wee over root-beer barrel candy and invites him to his birthday party in New York.

What job does Pee-wee hold in the town of Fairville in Pee-wee's Big Holiday?

Fry cook: Pee-wee works the grill at Dan's Diner in Fairville and has never left town, until the road trip turns him into a getaway driver for three bank robbers.

Which comedy producer-director worked with Reubens on Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016)?

Judd Apatow approached Reubens after seeing his 2010 stage revival and produced the film, which then took six years to reach the screen.

Pee-wee's revived stage show reached Broadway in late 2010, playing which newly renamed venue?

The Stephen Sondheim Theatre, rechristened that year, took the show after its Los Angeles run had done its job: a producer who saw it there offered Reubens a third Pee-wee film.

Which Disney ride featured Reubens as the voice of pilot droid RX-24, 'Rex'?

Star Tours opened at Disneyland in 1987 with Reubens as its droid pilot; three decades later the same droid resurfaced as a cantina DJ at Galaxy's Edge, again with his voice.

Under the name Paul Mall, Reubens voiced the ship's computer in which 1986 Disney film?

Flight of the Navigator credits Max, the ship's wisecracking computer, to 'Paul Mall'; its director said Reubens wanted his real name left off, though the laugh gave him away.

In Batman Returns (1992), Reubens played whose father?

The Penguin's: Reubens plays Tucker Cobblepot, who with his wife abandons the monstrous infant in the film's opening scene; Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Matilda were other 1990s roles.

Reubens played flamboyant California drug dealer Derek Foreal opposite Johnny Depp in which 2001 film?

Blow cast Reubens as Derek Foreal, the dealer who first helps George Jung sell marijuana and later gets mixed up in moving Pablo Escobar's cocaine through California.

In which Florida city did Reubens grow up?

Sarasota is where the Rubenfelds settled when Paul was a boy, and decades later it was in a hometown cinema there that the 1991 arrest derailed his career.

What business did Reubens' parents, Judy and Milton Rubenfeld, run?

A lamp store was the family business: Judy and Milton Rubenfeld sold lamps in Florida, and their son grew up to be an obsessive collector of vintage kitsch and novelty objects.

Which two illnesses had Reubens been diagnosed with at the time of his death in July 2023?

Leukemia and lung cancer: the death certificate showed he had been living with both, a six-year fight he kept so private that his farewell statement apologised to fans for it.

Which Playhouse puppet usually delivered the day's secret word?

Conky the Robot, cobbled together from a boombox, a turntable and other junk electronics, handed Pee-wee the word on a slip of paper.

Who played Reba the Mail Lady on Pee-wee's Playhouse?

S. Epatha Merkerson's Reba was part of a cast that flipped the stock kids'-show roles: the mail carrier and the cab driver were women and the cowboy was Black. Law & Order came later.

Before moving to Los Angeles, Pee-wee's Playhouse shot its first season in a converted loft in which city?

New York: the first season came out of a cramped Broadway loft that one writer called a sweatshop; for season two the show went west to a real studio.

Which Devo member wrote music for Pee-wee's Playhouse, his first television scoring job?

Mark Mothersbaugh had never scored a TV show; writing an album's worth of music a week for Playhouse launched the second career that led to Rugrats and Wes Anderson's films.

Which future Orange Is the New Black star played Opal in the first-season Playhouse Gang?

Natasha Lyonne was a child actor when she joined the Playhouse Gang, three kids who appeared only in the first season and were gone when the show was recast.

Which stage production introduced Captain Carl, Jambi and Miss Yvonne?

The Pee-wee Herman Show, the adult-skewed stage revue Reubens built around the character, introduced them along with Pterri and Clocky, and all five carried over to Saturday mornings.

Which city does waitress Simone dream of visiting in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Paris: Pee-wee tells Simone to follow her dream, so she leaves her jealous boyfriend Andy and, when they meet again at a bus station, she is on her way to France.

In Pee-wee's Big Holiday, where does Pee-wee fall down a well before Joe's party?

Central Park is where he tumbles down a well just short of the party; Joe comes to the rescue and tells him, 'Pee-wee, we are the party.'

What technique gave Pee-wee a youthful look in Pee-wee's Big Holiday?

Digital de-aging: Reubens felt Pee-wee 'doesn't work' with age showing, and was so pleased with the retouching that he said he could play him for ten more years.

Which comedian impersonated Pee-wee on In Living Color soon after the 1991 arrest?

Jim Carrey played Pee-wee in an In Living Color sketch that mocked the arrest, one of many jokes at the character's expense while Reubens retreated from public view.

Which character did Reubens voice in The Nightmare Before Christmas?

Lock is one of the three trick-or-treaters sent to kidnap Santa Claus, who deliver him to the villain Oogie Boogie instead of keeping him safe.

In a Funny or Die sketch, which gadget does Pee-wee show off to his Playhouse puppets?

An iPad, unveiled that same week, is his new toy in 'Pee-wee Gets an iPad!'; his sceptical Playhouse gang reckon it is no match for them.

On Pee-wee's Playhouse, the King of Cartoons introduced each vintage short with which command?

'Let the cartoon begin!' was the royal decree, though the King usually forgot the line and had to be reminded before the old short could roll.

Pee-wee served as a guest judge on which reality show in 2012?

Top Chef: Texas (season 9) sent the cooks pedalling Pee-wee-style bicycles around San Antonio to gather ingredients, then had them serve Pee-wee lunch at a historic mission.

In which song's video did Eminem dress as Pee-wee and copy his laugh?

Just Lose It, the lead single from Encore, borrows Pee-wee's shout for its chorus and puts Eminem in the grey suit between send-ups of MC Hammer and Madonna.

At which film festival did the documentary Pee-wee as Himself premiere in 2025?

Sundance premiered Matt Wolf's two-part film, built on more than 40 hours of interviews with Reubens, who never told the director he was dying.

Which late-night block began airing Playhouse reruns four nights a week in 2006?

Adult Swim, Cartoon Network's late-night block, ran all 45 episodes Monday to Thursday at 11 p.m., pitching the old Saturday-morning show at grown-ups this time.

Reubens knew SNL wouldn't hire two of 'the same type of performer' in 1980; which comic got the spot?

Gilbert Gottfried got it, in a season made without Lorne Michaels; an angry Reubens borrowed money from his parents and built his own stage show instead.

Pee-wee's Hollywood Walk of Fame star, unveiled the week Big Top Pee-wee opened, honours him in which category?

Motion pictures is the category, though television made him famous; the star went to Pee-wee Herman, not Paul Reubens, who was keeping up the fiction that Pee-wee was real.

Which company was to make Pee-wee's sugar-free cereal, which flunked a blind taste test?

Ralston Purina was to sell it as Pee-wee Chow; Reubens said the planned ad had a 1950s mom set the bowl on the floor for kids to eat on all fours, like dogs.

Pee-wee's 2010 WWE Raw appearance climaxed with an in-ring confrontation with whom?

The Miz and his sidekick Alex Riley squared up to Pee-wee in the ring, a stunt to plug his Broadway run that won a Slammy Award for guest-star moment of the year.

In a 2011 SNL sketch, a drunk Pee-wee and Andy Samberg ambush which news anchor?

Anderson Cooper is the victim in 'Andy and Pee-wee's Night Out', the January 2011 Digital Short in which the pair, after a night of shots, attack him in an alley with a chair.

In Pee-wee's Big Holiday, whose nine daughters all fall for Pee-wee, landing him at the altar?

Farmer Brown offers a bed for the night, then insists Pee-wee marry one of the nine; he slips out of the church in a disguise from a travelling salesman's kit.

In Big Top Pee-wee, Pee-wee's serum-laced cocktail wieners turn the town elders into what?

Children: the elders who had opposed the circus eat Pee-wee's serum-laced cocktail wieners and are turned into kids, delighted to watch the show they had tried to ban.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, what does convict Mickey claim he was jailed for?

Cutting a tag off a mattress is the offence Mickey, played by Judd Omen, says put him away, a joke about the 'do not remove under penalty of law' labels.

Which critic gave Pee-wee's Big Adventure a rare zero-star review?

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune awarded it zero stars on release, while his television partner Roger Ebert later named it among his guilty pleasures.

Reubens earned a 1995 Emmy nomination for a recurring guest role on which sitcom?

Murphy Brown cast Reubens as the network owner's sniveling nephew, and he said it was around then that he got his appetite for work back after the years of hiding.

Where were Reubens's ashes interred after his 2023 death?

Hollywood Forever Cemetery also screens films on its grounds, Pee-wee's Big Adventure among them, and a tribute night after his death was built around the film.

Reubens's father was a founding pilot of which country's air force?

Israel: Milton Rubenfeld flew in its first fighter squadron in 1948, stories his son took for tall tales until he found them in a published history of the air force.

Which future Oscar-nominated director worked as a security guard and production assistant on Pee-wee's Playhouse?

John Singleton, then a film student, told one of the show's actors he would direct him some day, and a few years later he kept the promise.

Reubens's final appearance as Pee-wee was a 2021 radio hour on which station?

KCRW aired the one-off Pee-wee Herman Radio Hour in November 2021; its producer said Reubens wanted to be a classic FM radio DJ, spinning soul records with Jack White and Charo as guests.

In Pee-wee's Big Holiday, which bank robber reveals that her own nickname is Pee-wee?

Bella, played by Alia Shawkat, introduces herself with 'Nickname: Pee-wee' once her gang has grabbed him; 'I've never met another one,' he says.

Which studio dropped Reubens the Monday after Big Top Pee-wee opened, even painting his name off his parking space?

Paramount ended a three-picture deal after one bad weekend; Reubens recalled waiting for the painter to finish before he could park, then being told to clear his office by Friday.

Which song did Reubens insist the metal band play during Big Adventure's studio chase?

Burn in Hell, a deep cut from Stay Hungry, is what the band mimes on the backlot, because Reubens specifically asked for it over the group's two big hit singles.

After Big Adventure's success, what kind of Pee-wee series did the network first pitch to Reubens?

An animated cartoon was the pitch; Reubens, raised on live kids' shows, said he wasn't interested and asked for 'a real kids' show' with people in it.

In the original 1981 stage show, what does Pee-wee wish for from the genie?

To fly is Pee-wee's wish; he gives it away to Miss Yvonne, sulks, then gets it back and sails over Puppetland at the finale as 'the luckiest boy in the world'.

Playhouse set designer Gary Panter's punk character Jimbo inspired which cartoon figure's hair?

Bart Simpson's spikes are credited to Jimbo by Matt Groening himself, a good friend of Panter's who later published Jimbo's comics on his own Zongo label.

Reubens played the race-sabotaging villain in a 2006 soapbox-derby video for which band?

The Raconteurs' 'Steady, As She Goes' video cast Reubens as a cheating pit boss in a soapbox derby; frontman Jack White met him on the shoot and later guested on his 2021 radio hour.

What make of vintage cruiser was customised into Pee-wee's beloved bike for Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Schwinn DX frames from the late 1940s and early 1950s were bought up for the shoot, more than ten in all, so stunt copies could spew oil or swing from a vine.

Which Italian actress plays trapeze star Gina, Pee-wee's new love, in Big Top Pee-wee?

Valeria Golino plays Gina, the circus aerialist Pee-wee falls for even though he already has a fiancée, the prim schoolteacher Winnie.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, how does Pee-wee finally learn where his stolen bike has ended up?

From a hospital television, after a crash; Reubens plotted the hunt by a screenwriting manual, to the letter: 'On page 30 I lose my bike, on page 60 I find it.'

What is the name of Pee-wee's little dog in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Speck earns an 'and introducing' credit: Pee-wee greets him before the breakfast machine whirs, and he later cowers under the laundry when the search meeting boils over.

Who played Hermit Hattie and Clockey in the 1981 stage show?

Edie McClurg, a fellow improv-troupe alumna later known as the school secretary in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, played both Hermit Hattie and the Clockey character in the original production.

Which famous guest signed the mock marriage licence when Reubens 'wed' Doris Duke's adopted daughter in 1989?

Imelda Marcos signed the joke licence at a party at Shangri-La, Doris Duke's Honolulu mansion, where Jim Nabors serenaded the couple; Reubens said he still had the paper.