Gotham: First Look At Paul Reubens As Penguin’s Father

A new year means new developments for Fox’s Gotham.  Actor Paul Reubens has tweeted out a photo of him, in character, posing with his on-screen son, Oswald Cobblepot, played by Robin Lord Taylor.  Before the show went on winter hiatus, it was announced that the veteran actor would return to the role as Penguin’s father.

What do you mean “return”?  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:

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.

Next: Gotham: Mid-Season Finale Wrap-Up

Fox’s Gotham returns Monday, February 29, 2016 airing in its regular time slot of 8:00PM EST.