Ten months after his death at age 70, the Los Angeles estate of actor, comedian, writer, and producer Paul Reubens—best known for his childlike, red bow tie-wearing alter-ego Pee-wee Herman—is available for the first time in almost four decades, asking just under $5 million. Built in the late 1950s and boasting nearly 3,000 square feet of living space, the midcentury ranch house sits atop a promontory in the sought-after Oaks neighborhood of Los Feliz and comes complete with views of the Griffith Park Observatory and the iconic Hollywood Sign from nearly every vantage point.
A California Institute of the Arts theater student and member of West Coast comedy troupe The Groundlings—where he originated his Pee-wee character in the 1970s—Reubens went on to become a film and TV sensation in the ’80s, starring in The Pee-wee Herman Show, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Big Top Pee-wee, and Pee-wee’s Playhouse. The recipient of a 1988 Hollywood Walk of Fame star, he’s also known for his work on Mystery Men, Blow, and Murphy Brown, the latter of which earned him an Emmy nod.
Though his image was somewhat tarnished in later years due to a couple of arrests—one for indecent exposure and another for possessing obscene material—he subsequently appeared in a new version of The Pee-wee Herman Show at L.A.’s Club Nokia and on Broadway, as well as the movie Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.
