Editing Paul Reubens (section)

== Early life and education ==
[[File:Paul Reubens HS Yearbook.jpeg|thumb|Reubens as a high school senior, 1970]]
Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld in [[Peekskill, New York]], on August 27, 1952,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/57/Paul-Reubens.html| title=Paul Reubens Biography (1952–)| publisher=Film Reference| access-date=October 30, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7GN0E_diWbAC&pg=PA213|title=From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century|last=Mansour|first=David|year= 2011|publisher=Andrews McMeel Publishing|isbn=978-0740793073|page=213}}</ref> and grew up in a [[Judaism|Jewish]] family in [[Sarasota, Florida]], where his parents, Judy (née Rosen) and [[Milton Rubenfeld]], owned a lamp store. His mother was a teacher. His father was an automobile salesperson who had flown for Britain's [[Royal Air Force]] and for the [[United States Army Air Forces|U.S. Army Air Forces]] in World War II, and later became one of the founding pilots of the [[Israeli Air Force]] during the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]]. An [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jew]], he was one of five Jewish pilots to fly against Arab forces in smuggled fighter planes.<ref name="milton">{{cite news|url=https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/LK/20040224/news/605202438/SH/|title=Veteran of British, U.S., Israeli air forces.|last=Scheibner|first=Hildegard|date=February 24, 2004|work=Sarasota Herald-Tribune|access-date=October 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190825115343/https://www.heraldtribune.com/article/LK/20040224/news/605202438/SH/|archive-date=August 25, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Labrecque |first=Jeff |date=April 28, 2015 |title=Pee-wee Herman's dad was one of Israel's top guns |url=https://ew.com/article/2015/04/28/paul-reubens-father-above-and-beyond-doc/ |access-date=June 22, 2022 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |language=en}}</ref>

Reubens's two younger siblings are Luke (born 1958), who is a [[dog trainer]],<ref name="perplex" /> and [[Abby Rubenfeld|Abby]] (born 1953),<ref>{{cite news |first=Judy |last=Klemesrud |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=Never Underestimate Power of a Woman, Even at Princeton |date=December 16, 1971 |access-date=October 8, 2008|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/16/archives/never-underestimate-power-of-a-woman-even-at-princeton.html}}</ref> who is an [[Attorney at law (United States)|attorney]] and a board member of the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] of Tennessee.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/affiliated-faculty/abby-r-rubenfeld/index.aspx |title=Abby R. Rubenfeld |access-date=October 17, 2008 |publisher=Vanderbilt Law School |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080306181146/http://law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty/affiliated-faculty/abby-r-rubenfeld/index.aspx |archive-date=March 6, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nlgla.org/pastChairs.html |title=Past Chairs |access-date=October 17, 2008 |publisher=National Lesbian and Gay Law Association |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080820034203/http://nlgla.org/pastChairs.html |archive-date=August 20, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abanet.org/irr/history/acknowledgments.html |title=A Brief History of the American Bar Association |access-date=October 17, 2008 |publisher=[[American Bar Association]] |date=August 5, 1999 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050330102509/http://www.abanet.org/irr/history/acknowledgments.html |archive-date=March 30, 2005}}</ref>

Reubens spent much of his childhood in [[Oneonta, New York]]. As a child, he frequented the [[Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus]], whose winter headquarters were in Sarasota. The circus atmosphere sparked Reubens's interest in entertainment and influenced his later work.<ref name="vanityfair" /><ref>{{cite news |newspaper=[[Tampa Bay Times|St. Petersburg Times]]|title=Playing hooky?|date=October 22, 1990|access-date=October 12, 2008|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=JL8MAAAAIBAJ&dq=ringling%20circus%20paul%20reubens&pg=5178%2C2319115}} {{dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> He also loved to watch reruns of ''[[I Love Lucy]]'', which made him want to make people laugh.<ref name="av" /> At age five, Reubens asked his father to build him a stage where he and his siblings would act out plays.<ref name="tribute">{{cite news|first=Karen|last=S|publisher=SFist|title=SFist Goes to the Paul Reubens Tribute|date=January 23, 2007|access-date=October 12, 2008|url=http://sfist.com/2007/01/23/sfist_goes_to_the_paul_reubens_tribute.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106191616/http://www.sfist.com/2007/01/23/sfist_goes_to_the_paul_reubens_tribute.php|archive-date=January 6, 2009}}</ref>

Reubens attended [[Sarasota High School]], where he was named president of the National Thespian Society. He was accepted into [[Northwestern University]]'s summer program for gifted high-school students, joined the local [[Asolo Repertory Theatre|Asolo Theater]], Players of Sarasota Theater, and appeared in several plays.<ref name="perplex">{{cite magazine|title=The Pee-Wee Perplex: Welcome to Paul Reubens' 'Playhouse'|first=T.|last=Gertler|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|date=February 12, 1987|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/the-pee-wee-perplex-welcome-to-paul-reubens-playhouse-110867/|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

After high school graduation, he attended [[Plymouth State University]] for one semester.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Plummer |first1=Erin |title=About 300 earn PSU graduate degrees, certificates |url=https://eu.fosters.com/story/lifestyle/2009/05/10/about-300-earn-psu-graduate/52000471007/ |access-date=January 13, 2019 |website=fosters.com |language=en |quote=Wetherbee also spoke of Robert Frost's time as a teacher in Plymouth and said Paul Reubens, also known as Pee-wee Herman, attended Plymouth State.}}</ref> He then attended [[Boston University]]. When he began auditioning for acting schools, he was turned down by the [[Juilliard School]] and [[Carnegie Mellon University]]. Reubens was accepted at the [[California Institute of the Arts]], where he graduated with a BFA in Theatre in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Memoriam: Paul Reubens (1952 – 2023) {{!}} CalArts |url=https://calarts.edu/news/memoriam-paul-reubens-1952-2023 |access-date=2025-01-15 |website=calarts.edu}}</ref> While in California, his early jobs included working in restaurant kitchens and as a [[Fuller Brush Company|Fuller Brush]] salesman.<ref name="perplex" />