Actor Paul Reubens passed away on Sunday, July 30, after a private cancer diagnosis.
Now, celebrities and co-stars who worked with the actor are paying tribute to the star known to many as the silly, outlandish, iconic character Pee-wee Herman.
On Twitter, actor Natasha Lyonne expressed her thanks to Reubens for her career start on Pee-wee’s Playhouse.
“Thank you for my career & your forever friendship all these years & for teaching us what a true original is,” Lyonne wrote in her tweet.
Actor Jennifer Tilly credited the star with always making her laugh in a tweet featuring a photo of herself with Reubens.
READ MORE: Pee-wee Herman Star Paul Reubens Dead at 70
Another of Reubens’ Pee-wee’s Playhouse co-stars, S. Epatha Merkerson, who played Reba the Mail Lady, wrote on Instagram, “I’m going to miss my friend!”
Director Guillermo Del Toro called Reubens a patron saint of “misfitted, weird, maladjusted, wonderful, miraculous oddities.”
David Hasselhoff noted that Reubens “never forgot anyone’s birthday” from their class at CalArts.
“Goodbye Paul,” Cher wrote simply in a tweet, followed by a quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
Others like Conan O’Brien and Paul Feig celebrated Reubens’ contributions to comedy, like his “devout silliness,” “unrelenting kindness,” and “comedy genius.”
Animator, director, and Powerpuff Girls creator Craig McCracken also thanked Reubens for “welcoming generations to the playhouse.”
Singer k.d. lang, who appeared as a guest star on Pee-wee Herman’s Christmas special, tweeted, “Swift rebirth sweet man. Beautiful joyous thing. I love you.”
“My first rebellion was hearing the grown ups talk sh– about PeeWee and deciding that I liked him anyway,” One Tree Hill star Hilarie Burton tweeted, calling him a “true legend.”
She added, “If you haven’t watched his Christmas special in a while, do yourself a favor. It is pure magic.”
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