OBITUARIES
OF BLESSED MEMORY

68 | AUGUST 17 • 2023 

MILTON WEISS, 
85, of Palm Desert, 
Calif., formerly of 
West Bloomfield, 
died July 28, 2023. 
He is survived 
by his beloved wife of 57 years, 
Jewel Weiss; loving children, 
Jason Weiss, Kayleen Arafiles, 
Michelle Danks, Jeffrey Kay; 
five adored grandchildren; 
sister-in-law and brother-
in-law, Andrea and Ken 
Bernard; much-loved nieces 
and nephews, and a world of 
friends. 
Mr. Weiss was the dear 
brother of the late Lester 
Weiss, the late Sammy Weiss, 
and cherished sister, Dorothy 
Bovitz. Milton was predeceased 
by his devoted parents, Jacob 
and Sarah Weiss. 

A memorial service to be 
held locally is being planned 
for the near future.

continued from page 67

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I 

was just out of college when 
I got a freelance assignment 
from a small entertainment 
magazine to interview a rising 
comic named Pee-wee Herman.
Of course, that wasn’t his real 
name, but the man-child perso-
na — one part Howdy Doody, 
one part third-grade nerd, who 
spoke as if he just took a hit off 
a helium balloon — created by 
a comic and actor named Paul 
Reubens. 
The publicist warned me that 
Reubens would be only talking 
to me as Pee-wee, but the voice 
at the other end of the call 

spoke in a flat, polite baritone. 
It was Reubens as Reubens, 
who had decided to drop the 
Pee-wee character, at least for 
our conversation. 
I don’t remember what we 
talked about, but the conver-
sation was disorienting: a peek 
behind the curtain at the real 
Wizard of Oz. And Pee-wee 
was sort of a wizard: In his 
brilliant Saturday morning 
“children’s” show, Pee-wee’s 
Playhouse, and in riotous films 
like Pee-wee’s Big Adventure 
and Big Top Pee-wee, the adult 
Reubens fully inhabited a 

Looking 
Back at Paul 
Reubens

ANDREW SILOW-CARROLL JTA.ORG

