Peewee herman gay
'Pee-wee Herman' star Paul Reubens comes out as lgbtq+ in documentary after death
The late Paul Reubens, aka Pee-wee Herman, is defining himself after years of speculation about the star's sexuality.
Reubens reveals he was gay in the brand-new two-part docuseries “Pee-wee as Himself," which made its debut Thursday night at Sundance Film Festival in Salt Lake City. It's slated to air on HBO and Max later this year.
"I was as out as you could be, and then I went back in the closet," Reubens says in the documentary. "My career would have absolutely suffered if I was openly gay, so I went to great lengths for many, many years to keep it a secret."
He sat down for 40 hours of interviews with director Matt Wolf for the documentary, which includes Reubens discussing his partnership with Guy, a painter he lived with in Los Angeles in the 1970s.
The actor chose his professional life over his personal life, and reveals that years after they broke up, Reubens visited Guy just before he died from AIDS. "To talk about seeing someone at death’s door, that’s what that was," Reubens says. He adds that in the 1980s, AIDS “scared the heck out of me.”
Paul Reubens dies at 70: The 'Pee-wee Herma
Reubens’ success as Pee-wee was undeniable. Throughout the 1980s, the character became a fixture on late-night television, landing the star his Emmy-winning children’s show,Pee-wee’s Playhouse, and two hit films. (A third, far less celebrated Pee-wee film came out in 2016, years after Reubens’ career collapsed following his 1991 arrest for indecent exposure.)
Though he refused to be general about his sexuality during his career, the thespian told Wolf he had “many, many secret relationships” amid the height of his fame.
Despite refusing to come out as homosexual during his lifetime, Reubens decided to make his sexuality public in the posthumous documentary, which is crafted from 40 hours of interviews done prior to his death at the age of 70 in 2023 due to acute hypoxic respiratory failure.
The star, who was also fighting two forms of cancer and kept his diagnosis private during the last years of his life, told Wolf how working on Pee-wee as Himself gave him a chance to shape his own legacy after years of scandal, speculation, and gossip.
“More than anything, the reason I wanted to construct a documentary was for people to see who I really am, and how painful and dreadful it was to
Paul Reubens Comes Out as Gay Posthumously in Pee-wee Doc
Paul Reubens, the actor behind the iconic Pee-wee Herman character, has come out as male lover — a year and a half after he died.
The New York Announce reports that Reubens, who died of cancer at 70 in July 2023, sat with director Matt Wolf for 40 hours across a year to document the story of his life and career for the two-part HBO doc series "Pee-wee as Himself," which premiered Thursday at the Sundance Motion picture Festival in Park Metropolis, Utah.
Though Reubens never publicly confirmed he was male lover, in the interviews, he talks about wanting "people to see who I really am."
He says before he became a domesticated name as Pee-wee Herman, the manic boy-man who hosted a popular Saturday-morning kids' show for years, he was in a relationship with a gentleman named Guy from the Echo Park neighborhood of L.A. It was Guy's strange way of speaking that first inspired Reubens to create Pee-wee.
According to Reubens, Guy would exclaim stuff like, "Mmmm! Buttery!" in a Yoda accent. "You can see where that led me," he cracks.
Guy later died of AIDS "a couple hours" after Reubens last visited him.
Back when he was a Groundlings comic
‘Pee-wee Herman’ star Paul Reubens comes out as lgbtq+ in posthumous documentary: ‘I was secretive about my sexuality’
Sdelayed actor Paul Reubens, optimal known for portraying Pee-wee Herman, publicly came out as gay in a posthumous HBO documentary that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The two-part special includes his ultimate interviews before his death from cancer in July 2023 at age 70.
In extensive conversations with director Matt Wolf, Reubens admitted to being secretive about his sexuality, even with close friends. He revealed that before achieving fame, he had a boyfriend named Guy but chose to hide his sexual orientation as his Pee-wee Herman persona became widely recognized.
Reubens distributed that he once lived openly but later retreated into secrecy, prioritizing his career over personal truthfulness. He also reflected on visiting Guy in the hospital shortly before his death from AIDS, acknowledging the deep but veiled influence Guy had on his life and character.
Throughout his career, Reubens had multiple secret relationships and concealed aspects of his identity, including his love for marijuana. Actress Debi Mazar, often seen with him, asserted that
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