Description
This person died in 2023 at age 70. A turning point in his career came shortly after a disappointing and unsuccessful audition for “Saturday Night Live” in 1980. He once said “Today, it’s a lot more difficult to stand out. You know, if you want to be weird, good luck.” He had scores of acting credits, including roles on “Murphy Brown,” “The Blacklist” and many other television series and in movies like “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Blow”. He was in a feature film directed by Tim Burton in 1985, after which he created a highly successful, live action Saturday morning kid’s series, both in character as his quirky alter-ego. The film followed him on a “Big Adventure” while the series took you inside a magical Playhouse. Today’s dead celebrity is Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman.
If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 80 “Super Funkhouser” (Bob Einstein) and Episode 26 “Wild Thing” (Maurice Sendak)
Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Megan Palmer.
LINKS:
Transcript of this episode
New York Times Obituary for Paul Reubens
“Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” official film trailer
Opening sequence for “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” TV series
Flight of the Navigator CGI Spaceship with Paul’s voice
Cheech and Chong “I’m sorry” scene with Paul
A conversation with Paul Reubens at SXSW
The origins of Pee-wee Herman article in ‘The New Yorker’
Dead or Alive quiz game
Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
Famous & Gravy official website
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
This person died in 2010 at age 84. His elder brother was deputy prime minister of Canada. Before his 18th birthday, he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and trained as an aerial gunner during World War II. He had a matinee-idol profile, and was often cast as a serious and earnest hero...
Published 10/23/24
This person died in 2009 at age 57. His father was an engineer and a rodeo cowboy. He was a student athlete, and his dancing career was hampered by a severe football injury. In the 1970s he moved from Houston to New York to study dance, becoming a member of Eliot Feld Ballet. He was determined...
Published 10/09/24