In the HBO documentary, “Pee-wee as Himself,” Reubens discusses his early inspirations, his fame, his foibles and, briefly, his brushes with the law.

Paul Reubens did not tell his director that he was dying. On July 31, 2023, the news of Reubens’ death came as a shock to documentary filmmaker Matt Wolf, who had spent a year trying to convince him to make the ambitious two-part documentary “Pee-wee as Himself,