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1-11 of 11
- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Paul Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld on August 27, 1952 in Peekskill, New York, to Judy (Rosen), a teacher, and Milton Rubenfeld, a car salesman who had flown for the air forces of the U.S., U.K., and Israel, becoming one of the latter country's pioneering pilots. Paul grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where his parents owned a lamp store. During winters, The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus called Sarasota home, and young Paul counted such big-top families as the Wallendas and the Zacchinis among his neighbors. When he was 11-years-old, he joined the local Asolo Theater, and during the next six years, he appeared in a variety of plays. After graduating from Sarasota High School in 1970, he attended Boston University for one year before deciding to seek his fortune as Paul Reubens in Hollywood, where he enrolled as an acting major at the California Institute of the Arts and accepted a string of pay-the-rent jobs ranging from pizza chef to Fuller Brush salesman.
In the mid 1970s, his acting career grew slowly and steadily with small roles in theater productions, gigs at local comedy clubs and four guest appearances on The Gong Show (1976). During this time of education/employment, he joined an improvisational comedy troupe called The Groundlings. The popular gang of yuksters, whose roster has included Conan O'Brien, Lisa Kudrow, the late Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, and Julia Sweeney, wrung laughs from audiences with skits starring scads of imaginative, self-created characters. Among Reubens's contributions to this comedic community were a philandering husband named Moses Feldman, an Indian chief named Jay Longtoe, and, the character he became best known for, Pee-Wee Herman, who debuted in 1978.
Pee-Wee was a funny man-child of indeterminate age and sexuality who created a sarcastic enthusiasm for the popular culture of the '50s and '60s. The geeky character's wardrobe consisted of a gray suit, a white short-sleeved shirt accessorized with a red clip-on bow tie, and white patent-leather loafers. He wore his jet-black hair military short with a defiant tuft in front, and he accentuated his lily-white complexion with pink cheeks and red lipstick. Reubens drew inspiration for Pee-Wee's geeky behavior from a youth he had attended summer camp with, and derived his creation's boyish voice from a character he played as a child actor. Pee-Wee appeared for only 10 minutes of The Groundlings show, but he nonetheless built up a considerable following and turned out to be a star of the '80s and early '90s. The Pee-Wee Herman Show (1981), ran for five sellout months at the Los Angeles's Roxy nightclub, and HBO taped the performance and aired it as a special.
Now a genuine comedy-circuit star, he became a frequent guest of David Letterman and a favorite at Caroline's in New York. In 1984, he sold out Carnegie Hall. He later auditioned for the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975), but when that didn't turn out as planned, he started writing a feature-length screenplay for Pee-Wee to star in, and asked friend Tim Burton to direct. Released to wildly divergent reviews, Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985), followed its star cross-country in a madcap search for his beloved, stolen bike. The $7 million picture ended up grossing $45 million. That following year, CBS which had been losing children's audiences to cable programming, was interested in finding something to shore up its Saturday Morning lineup. The network company signed him to act/produce and to direct its live-action children's program called Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986). They doled out an eye-popping budget of $325,000 per episode - the same price as a prime- time sitcom. Reubens received complete creative control, albeit with three minor exceptions. During its five-year-run on CBS, he never appeared in general as himself. He even granted printed interviews in full Pee-Wee regalia.
The image of Pee-Wee was broken on July 26, 1991. On his summer vacation, Reubens was visiting his parents in Sarasota and sought escape from boredom by catching a showing of the X-rated film, Nurse Nancy. He fell victim to a police sting operation and was arrested for sex charges when detectives allegedly saw him playing with his private parts. He was released on $219 bail and nobody realized what had happened until somebody recognized him beneath his long hair and goatee. The media went berserk: 'Kids show star arrested for indecent exposure'. Because of his behavior, CBS dropped the Playhouse and related merchandise was released from its shelves. He agreed to pay a $50 fine plus $85 in court costs to Sarasota County, and he produced a 30 second public service message for the Partnership For Drug-Free America commercial. As part of the deal, the county sealed all legal papers relating to the actor's arrest and didn't leave Reubens with a criminal record. The scandal marked the near death of Pee-Wee Herman. Reubens appeared as his favorite character for the last time at that Autumn's MTV Music Video Awards. The enthusiastic reception was not surprising, as he had received 15 thousand supportive letters during his arrest. Regardless, he had recently made a promise not to play Pee-Wee anymore and used his arrest as an chance to portray other roles. A new feature length film by Netflix available beginning March 18, 2016 allowed Reubens to show Pee-Wee fans his character again in Pee-wee's Big Holiday (2016).
Reubens has landed a series of offbeat character roles. One year after he was taken into custody, he appeared in Burton's Batman Returns (1992) as the Penguin's unloving father, and as a vampire henchman in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992). Subsequent jobs have included a voice over for Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), a healthy stint as Andrew J. Lansing III on Murphy Brown (1988), and roles in the feature films, Dunston Checks In (1996), Matilda (1996), Buddy (1997) and Mystery Men (1999). He also signed to emcee a new game show based on the popular 'You Don't Know Jack' CD-ROM version.- Billy 'Pop' Atmore was born on 19 March 1965 in Landstuhl, West Germany. He was an actor, known for Spider-Man: The Animated Series (1994), Houston Knights (1987) and Max Dugan Returns (1983). He was married to Lisa. He died on 30 July 2023 in the USA.
- Betty Ann Cain was born on 1 October 1931 in Wahiawa, Hawaii, USA. She was an actress, known for To Tell the Truth (2016). She was married to Craig Scheiner. She died on 30 July 2023 in Sonoma, California, USA.
- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Safa Önal was born on 17 December 1930 in Istanbul, Turkey. He was a writer and director, known for Menekse Gözler (1969), Hicran Sokagi (2007) and Cingöz Recai (1969). He died on 30 July 2023.- Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Dorin headed north as a young boy and for the first six years of his schooling attended a one-room school house in Pound Ridge, New York - the same school his great-grandfather (a Civil War veteran) had attended as a boy. He raised chickens in his grandfather's back yard, about a thousand Rhode Island Reds, sold eggs, fryers, broilers, and bantam roosters. At the age of seven he sang living-room concerts with Great-grandmother Adeline and years later graduated as a voice major from Juilliard. After graduation from Union College he headed to New York and managed the door at The Friars, carried bags for Chico Marx, kept lovely fans at bay, and hauled garbage out to the back alley. Early stints in the theater included summer stock in Wallingford, Ct. and Lambertville, N.J. where he and Robert Goulet sang chorus together in Kismet. Taking a break from theater, he rose through the ranks at World Book Encyclopedia, training agents who sold more than 25,000 sets in America and French Canada including a set to the Dalai Lama's emissary in New York.
Along the way he's played Pierce Brosnan's father in The Mirror has Two Faces, played with Richard Kind in, The Day the Whores Came Out to Play Tennis, danced the night away (or at least part of it) with Rita Jenrette of Playboy fame. Bobby Lewis has accompanied him on the piano, Jane Fonda has grabbed his arm and told him to sit right next to her, Mariel Hemingway has chatted away with him in her Winnebago. While filming Legal Eagles at Sotheby's, Robert Redford and he did the switcheroo at the revolving door until Redford graciously stopped, saying, "After you, Alfonse!" Martin Sheen has exclaimed "It's good to meet you, too, George!", Judy Wilson has cried, "Wow!", and Hume Cronyn has chased him down the hall to explain why he was cut from Jessica Tandy's bedside. He has stood in for Stacy Keach, Sid Caesar, and Sir John Gielgud. While filming Over the Brooklyn Bridge, Elliot Gould and he stayed out of the rain beneath the awning of an old porno movie house on 42 nd Street and called each other names. He's broken bread with Patricia Arquette and chatted with Nicholas Cage about the nature of acting while working on Bringing out the Dead.
In real life Dorin has been a butcher, bartender, lumberjack, DJ, tour guide, house painter, roof shingler, banker, chauffeur, waiter, telephone operator, salesman, football coach. - Writer
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
- Director
David Albahari was born on 15 March 1948 in Pec, Serbia, Yugoslavia. He was a writer and assistant director, known for Haava nagila (1973), Kisa (1972) and Leeches (2019). He died on 30 July 2023 in Belgrade, Serbia.- Actor
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Andrzej Glazer was born on 3 December 1950 in Lódz, Lódzkie, Poland. He was an actor and assistant director, known for Smolensk (2016), The Palace (1980) and Zycie na goraco (1979). He died on 30 July 2023.- Richard Cobb was born on 5 May 1970 in Norwich, New York, USA. He was married to Tamara Chase. He died on 30 July 2023 in Norwich, New York, USA.
- Vladimiro Roca was born on 21 December 1942 in Havana, Cuba. He was married to Magaly de Armas. He died on 30 July 2023 in Havana, Cuba.
- Valeriy Lapikura was born on 9 September 1943 in Kutuzivka, Sherbakul district, Omsk region, RSFSR, USSR. Valeriy was a writer, known for Pri zagadochnykh obstoyatelstvakh (2009). Valeriy was married to Natalia Lapikura. Valeriy died on 30 July 2023 in Ukraine.
- Kostas Biliris was born on 15 January 1940 in Lamia, Greece. He was an actor, known for Mathe paidi mou grammata (1981), To theatro tis Defteras (1970) and Prodomenos laos: Manto Mavrogenous (1983). He died on 30 July 2023 in Greece.