Pee-Wee Herman
Paul Reubens was 38 years old, and wildly successful due to his creation/alter ego "Pee-Wee Herman." On hiatus from work, he decided to spend some time with his parents, in South Florida. Obviously not getting enough stimulation at the folk's house, he ventured to the South Trail Cinema, an adult XXX movie theater nearby. It was around 10pm, and Reubens settled down to a happy heaping helping of the titty flick, "Nurse Nancy."
According to the police report (complete with spelling errors) that refers to Reubens as the Def (defendant):
The officer "did observe the Def's penis exposed. The Def did begin to masterbate his exposed penis with his left hand. At approx 2035 hrs, the Def did again expose his penis and masterbate again."
There you go, in all its glory. Paul was arrested along with 3 other men that night. It was July 26, 1991.
A local reporter recognized the name on the police blotter the next morning, and within 48hours, Pee-Wee's weeny became a national media frenzy. Stars like Joan Rivers, Bill Cosby and Cyndi Lauper publicly supported Reubens, but it did seem that his career was over.
CBS immediately pulled reruns of the now cancelled "Pee-Wee's Playhouse," Disney-MGM Studios suspended a two minute video that Reubens had narrated for its backstage tour, and toy stores removed Pee Wee dolls from the shelves.
On August 9th, he had a court appearance and was released on a $219 bond. He could have faced as much as 60 days in jail, and a $500 fine. 4 months later he pleaded "no contest" to the charge of indecent exposure, paid a $50.00 fine and was ordered to perform 70 hours of community service.
2 years after the fact, a Florida judge erased the incident from Paul's permanent record.
Trivia: Showing at the theatre was a triple bill: "Nurse Nancy," "Catalina Five-O" and "Tiger Shark." "Nancy" star Sandra Scream stated in the press, "It's increased notoriety of my name, but its unfortunate that it have to happen this way. I would like to stand in my own light. I don't want a scandal to inflate my career. This is not a Jessica Hahn thing." Who?
Contrary to legend, Reubens' star was not removed from the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Reubens continues to be quite active in show business.
But as far as Pee-Wee goes, rest in peace.
Findadeath.com friend Jason sends this in, February 2001:
Firstly, love your site! Thought it was
really fun. Secondly, You may have
to remove the listing for Pee Wee
Herman. In the current issue of "W" it is
mentioned in an article about
Paul Reubens that he is working on a new Pee
Wee movie. This is just
FYI so your great site can be as accurate as
possible. Plus I am a bit
of an obsessive Pee Wee fan. :)
thanks for the top tip, Jason!
