Paul Reubens - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Reubens was born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, and grew up in Sarasota, Florida, where his parents, Judy and Milton, owned a lamp store. His mother, Judy, was a teacher and his father, Milton, an automobile salesperson who had flown for Britain's Royal Air Force and for the U.S. Army Air Forces in World War II, later becoming one of the founding pilots of the Israeli Air Force during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. Paul has two younger siblings, Luke (born 1958), who is a dog trainer, and Abby (born 1953), who is an attorney, and board member of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.

Reubens spent a significant amount of his childhood in Oneonta, New York. As a child, Reubens frequented the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, whose winter headquarters was in Sarasota. The circus's atmosphere sparked Reubens' interest in entertainment and influenced his later work. Reubens also loved to watch reruns of I Love Lucy, which made him want to make people laugh. At age five, Reubens asked his father to build him a stage, where he and his siblings would put on plays.

Reubens attended Sarasota High School, where he was named president of the National Thespian Society. He also got in Northwestern University's summer program for gifted high-school students and joined the local Asolo Theater and Players of Sarasota Theater, appearing several plays. After graduation, he attended Boston University and began auditioning for acting-schools. He was turned down by several schools, including Juilliard, and twice by Carnegie-Mellon, before being accepted at the California Institute of the Arts and moving to California, where he worked in restaurant kitchens and as a Fuller Brush salesman.

In the 1970s, Reubens performed at local comedy clubs and made four guest appearances on The Gong Show as part of a boy–girl act he had developed with Charlotte McGinnis, called The Hilarious Betty and Eddie. He soon joined the Los Angeles–based improvisational comedy team The Groundlings and remained a member for six years, working with Bob McClurg, John Paragon, Susan Barnes, and Phil Hartman. Hartman and Reubens became friends, often writing and working on material together. In 1980, he had a small part as a waiter in The Blues Brothers.