NPR

'Pee-wee as Himself' is a portrait of a private man and his public alter ego

Pee-wee As Himself tells the story of how a kid who grew up adoring The Little Rascals and I Love Lucy went on to revolutionize sketch comedy and children's television. In 1986, one of the most ...
Forbes

New Pee-Wee Herman Documentary Arrives On Streaming This Week

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 14: Actor Paul Reubens 'Pee-wee Herman' speaks onstage at the 10th Annual TV Land Awards at the Lexington Avenue Armory on April 14, 2012 in New ...
New York Post

Late Pee-wee Herman actor discusses sexuality for first time, painful scandals in final interview

PARK CITY, Utah — Better known for his broad smile and silly voices, Pee-wee Herman actor Paul Reubens becomes rawly emotional in the documentary “Pee-wee as Himself,” which premiered Thursday night ...
Time

Bigger Than Pee-wee

Don’t invite Paul Reubens over just to be nice. Because he will come. While he was shooting the movie Blow in Acapulco, a pack of drunken university students from Jersey swarmed the man who was once ...
Salon

“Pee-wee as Himself” director says working with Paul Reubens was “contentious” and “thrilling”

Even as Reubens wanted to impact kids with TV the way it impacted him, he lost part of himself by having his alter ego pass as a real person. Director Matt Wolf shrewdly recounts Reubens’ life and his ...
Los Angeles Times

Everyone knew Pee-wee Herman. But few knew the man behind the man-child

The first time we see Paul Reubens in the documentary “Pee-wee as Himself,” he is not playing Pee-wee Herman, the antic man-child he portrayed in comedy routines, movies, a children’s TV show and most ...
Salon

“Pee-wee as Himself” reveals Paul Reubens’ struggle for control—on and off screen

As Pee-wee Herman, Paul Reubens was a performance artist hiding in plain sight in mainstream popular culture. His fictional character, a hyperactive, bow-tied man-child, provided subversive messages ...
The Boston Globe

‘Pee-wee as Himself’ is a bittersweet look at the price of fame

The two-part HBO documentary series, “Pee-wee as Himself” follows in the footsteps of “Faye,” “Sly,” and “Martha”; that is, it’s a film where the subject speaks for himself in interviews conducted by ...
Los Angeles Times

‘Pee-wee as Himself’ gives Paul Reubens the final word on his identity

“I was born in 1938 in a little house on the edge of the Mississippi River; my father worked on a steamboat and his name was Steamboat Milton,” says Paul Reubens by way of misdirection in Matt Wolf’s ...
People

Pee-wee and Me: Why a Gay Man Felt at Home Watching Pee-wee's Playhouse

Paul Reubens, subject of a new HBO documentary, was in the closet — but his famous character wasn't Tom Gliatto reviews the latest TV and movie releases for PEOPLE Magazine. He also writes many of the ...
WUNC

'Pee-wee as Himself' is a portrait of a private man and his public alter ego

In 1986, one of the most unusual and iconic kids' TV shows debuted. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PEE-WEE'S PLAYHOUSE THEME") PAUL REUBENS: (As Pee-wee Herman) Hey. CYNDI LAUPER: (Singing) Come in, and pull ...