Actor Paul Reubens had Oneonta roots

Jul. 31—Paul Reubens could find the humor in anything.

The actor and comedian whose Pee-wee Herman character — an overgrown child with a tight gray suit and an unforgettable laugh — died at 70 on July 30, after a six-year struggle with cancer that he kept private, his publicist said in a statement.

Pee-wee Herman became a 1980s pop cultural phenomenon, delighting fans in the film "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" and on the TV series "Pee-wee's Playhouse."

Reubens lived in Oneonta with his parents, Judy and Milton Rubenfeld, from about 1957 to 1960 before they moved to Sarasota, Florida.

Christine Takores, née Georgeson, who now lives in Connecticut, said she remembers attending kindergarten, first and second grade with him and playing at his home when she was 6.

"In first grade we were pretty good friends," she said.

Takores said they were watching television one day at his house when a commercial for women's underwear came on that she'd seen 100 times.

"He thought it was hilarious," she said. "He made me see it as funny, too. He saw what was funny as a young child. He was always making jokes."

She also remembers he and his sister, Abby, were selected to be in the Peanut Gallery on "The Howdy Doody" show. She thought it was neat she saw someone she knew on television.

"Little did I know he would be a TV actor," she said.

She said she was unaware of her childhood friend's fame until her mother pointed to a photo of Pee-wee Herman on her refrigerator and told her it was Paul Reubens.

Creating Pee-wee

A statement from Reubens was released Monday, July 31 with the announcement of his death.

"Please accept my apology for not going public with what I've been facing the last six years," Reubens said. "I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters. I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you."

Born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, in 1952, he was the eldest of three kids.

After high school, he spent a year at Boston University, and was then turned down by the Juilliard School and Carnegie-Mellon University. So he enrolled at the California Institute of the Arts. That would lead to appearances at local comedy clubs and theaters and joining Los Angeles improv group The Groundlings in the late 1970s.

Created for the stage, Pee-wee with his white chunky loafers and red bow tie would become a cultural constant in both adult and children's entertainment for much of the 1980s, though an indecent exposure arrest in 1991 would send the character into entertainment exile for years.

The laugh that punctuated every sentence, catch phrases like "I know you are but what am I" and a tabletop dance to the Champs' song "Tequila" in a biker bar in "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" were often imitated by fans, to the joy of some and the annoyance of others.

The live "Pee-wee Herman Show" debuted at a Los Angeles theater in 1981 and was a success with both kids during matinees and adults at a midnight show. HBO would air the show as a special.

Reubens took Pee-wee to the big screen with 1985's "Pee-wee's Big Adventure." A sequel followed three years later in the less well-received "Big Top Pee-wee," in which Pee-wee seeks to join a circus. Reubens' character wouldn't get another movie starring role until 2016's "Pee-wee's Big Holiday," for Netflix.

His television series, "Pee-wee's Playhouse," ran for five seasons, earned 22 Emmys and attracted not only children but adults to Saturday-morning TV.

Reubens' career was derailed when he was arrested for indecent exposure in an adult movie theater in Sarasota, Florida, the city where he grew up. He was handed a small fine but the damage was incalculable.

The perception of Reubens immediately changed.

Reubens said he got plenty of offers to work, but told the AP that most of them wanted to take "advantage of the luridness of my situation"," and he didn't want to do them.

In 2001, Reubens was arrested and charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography after police seized images from his computer and photography collection, but the allegation was reduced to an obscenity charge and he was given three years probation.

After the 1991 arrest, he would spend the decade playing primarily non-Pee-wee characters, including roles in Burton's 1992 movie "Batman Returns" and the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" film.

Reubens — who never lost his boyish appearance even in his 60s — would slowly re-introduce Pee-wee, eventually doing a Broadway adaptation of "The Pee-wee Herman Show" in 2010, and the 2016 Netflix movie.