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Gotham: Paul Reubens To Play Penguin’s Father … Again

By Steve Lam

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Yep, you read that correctly.  Mr. Pee-wee Herman himself will be “reprising” his role as Oswald Cobblepot’s father on an upcoming episode of Fox’s Gotham.  What do you mean “reprise”?  Little do some people know, Paul Reubens played Oswald Cobblepot’s father in the Tim Burton-directed Batman Returns (1992).  Nope, I’m not kidding.  He’s in the credits and if you want to see him, he appears during the prologue of the movie which show’s Oswald’s birth and the heartless abandonment by his parents.  Catch Reubens starting at 0:26 in the video:

The announcement of the casting for Penguin’s old man came from Robin Lord Taylor’s own Twitter feed:

Paul Reubens is a veteran actor and comedian most famously known for playing Pee-wee Herman, a childlike protagonist he created in 1977 while performing with The Groundlings.  Reubens would later spin that character off into a highly successful movie and television career.  Pee-wee Herman, as a solo act, was first introduced to television audiences as The Pee-wee Herman Show on HBO in 1981.  Though the character would later become popular with children, Reubens’s initial performance was meant more for mature audiences.

As the character gained success, he entered the film arena with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), which was notably director Tim Burton’s feature film debut.  The film performed well at the box-office and developed a cult hit.  It would later spawn a sequel, Big Top Pee-wee (1988).

As the character of Pee-wee Herman became a household name, Reubens made the jump back to television and debuted a Saturday morning series for children titled Pee-wee’s Playhouse.

This announcement also seems to set itself apart from the comic book origins of the Penguin.  In the comics, when Oswald was still a child, his father passed away due to an onset of pneumonia after being caught in a rainstorm.  Oswald’s overprotective mother would later force her son to carry an umbrella wherever he went — thus instilling in him his signature accessory.

As of this report, it’s unknown which Season 2 episode will debut Paul Reubens as Oswald Cobbplepot’s father.

Fox’s Gotham airs on Mondays at 8:00PM EST.

Next: Catch up on Gotham with a recap and review of The Last Laugh

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