[Fox News] Paul Reubens, David Hasselhoff, Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams among celebrity roommates before fame
Before Paul Reubens rose to fame in his “Pee-wee Herman” role, he was David Hasselhoff’s roommate.
On Sunday, Reubens lost his private battle with cancer at 70-years-old. Hasselhoff took to social media to honor his “great friend” and former roommate.
The two aren’t the only famous bunk buddies: Christopher Reeve and Robin Williams first met when they attended Julliard in 1973 and went on to be very close friends and roommates.
Ben Affleck revealed that Matt Damon is a “beautiful guy” but had disgusting living habits and does not recommend living with him.
PAUL REUBENS: ‘PEE-WEE HERMAN’ ACTOR’S LIFE IN PICTURES
Below is a look at A-listers who were roommates before their careers took off.
The “Baywatch” star shared an emotional statement about Reubens and reminisced on their time together.
‘PEE-WEE HERMAN’ ACTOR PAUL REUBENS DEAD AT 70
“Paul Reubens was a great, great friend,” Hasselhoff shared on social media. “He gave me the muppets for my birthday and never forgot anyone’s birthday from our class.”
“He was in my class at CalArts and room mates!” Hasselhoff posted on Twitter, now “X,” as he referenced their time together at the California Institute of the Arts.
“He was always kind to me and to everyone. He will be missed. #paulreubens #peeweeherman.”
In the throwback black-and-white photo, Hasselhoff was all smiles next to Reubens, who wore his iconic Pee-wee Herman suit and bow-tie.
Reubens signed the photo with a special message to his dear friend.
“To my ‘ol college buddy David aarrrrrrr! Your pal, Peewee Herman…”
Reubens created the famous Pee-wee character, with his set premiering in 1981. He later performed at The Roxy on the Sunset Strip. Reubens was personally nominated for 14 Emmy Awards, and he won two.
Reeve and Williams’ relationship dates back to the ’70s when they first met on the Julliard campus.
In 1973, only 20 students were accepted into the prestigious, private performing arts school. Among the 20 were Reeve and Williams. After the pair met at Julliard, they went on to become close friends and eventually roommates.
According to Biography, Williams said in 2006 that they were “totally opposite — me coming from the West Coast and a junior college, and him from the hard-core Ivy League. He used to be the studly studly of all studlies, and I was the little fool ferret boy.”
Williams and the “Superman” star stayed very close up until Reeve’s death in 2004. In his autobiography, “Still Me,” Reeve dished on his close bond with the comedian.
“Robin was able to share his real feelings with me, and I always did the same with him. This has remained true for 25 years,” he wrote, according to Glamour.
After Williams’ death in 2014, Reeve’s widow issued a statement on behalf of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, honoring the Oscar winner.
“The Reeve family, like many, will remember Robin for the humor, energy and brightness he brought into our lives through the screen,” the family said in a statement to “Today” at the time.
They continued, “We will cherish him, though, for the quiet and unwavering support he showed our family through the hardest times. The world knew Robin as a comedic titan, but to our family, he was simply one of our Dad’s dearest friends.”
Affleck and Damon have had a strong bromance brewing since they were children. However, that does not mean that Affleck would jump at the opportunity to live with Damon again.
In an interview in April, Affleck detailed his relationship with his friend and noted a few shocking details.
“Matt is a beautiful guy, I love him. He’s my best friend, he’s been great to me my whole life, he’s a brilliant guy. … I would not suggest living with him,” Affleck said on “The Late Late Show with James Corden” at the time.
Affleck continued to explain that he and his brother, Casey, went on a “strike” after becoming fed up with their roommate’s mess.
“After cleaning up after the guy for years, you know what, ‘We are going to go on a sit-down strike,’” Affleck recalled of his and Casey’s decision.
“We’re just going to wait and see how long he will go before he actually gets up and goes, ‘God, I’m covered in garbage!’ and he went weeks, two weeks without touching the apartment.”
Affleck went on to say that he came home one day to find Damon in shorts and a T-shirt, playing a video game and surrounded by “concentric circles of garbage.”
“… Pizza boxes – I look down at this sushi thing that’s like a week and a half old and there’s maggots.”
“We were like, ‘We submit! We submit, you are too good. We cannot beat you,’” he quipped.
The “Armageddon” star added that Damon didn’t recognize that there was anything wrong with the mess and praised his wife for dealing with his habits.
“God bless his wife, Lucy. There’s a place for you in heaven,” Affleck said.
Damon, then 27, and Affleck, then 25, co-wrote the 1997 film “Good Will Hunting” together while they were roommates. “We rented this house on the beach in Venice and 800 people came and stayed with us and got drunk,” Affleck previously said, according to Forbes magazine.
“Then we ran out of money and had to get an apartment. It was, like, everything was exciting,” he said. “So, we lived in Glendale and Eagle Rock, and we lived in Hollywood, West Hollywood, Venice, by the Hollywood Bowl, all over the place. We’d get thrown out of some places or we’d have to upgrade or downgrade depending on who had money.”
Brad Pitt and Jason Priestley were roommates before they became ’90s heartthrobs.
In “Jason Priestley: A Memoir,” the actor detailed his relationship with Pitt, recalling that they used to have competitions on who could go the longest without shaving and showering.
Promoting his memoir on the “Rachel Ray Show” in 2019, Priestley shared that Pitt once got himself and their friends monogrammed Bibles for Christmas.
“Brad and I were roommates for a short period of time, but we were friends for a very long time,” Priestley began. “Back in 1989, it was Christmastime and all our crew got together to exchange Christmas gifts.”
He continued, “You know, it was the late ’80s and everyone wanted to be a bad boy. We all showed up to this Christmas party with bottles of Jack Daniel’s and cartons of cigarettes.”
Priestly shared that Pitt, who had just gotten back from visiting his family for the holidays in Missouri, brought back a Bible for everyone.
“Our names were embossed in them,” Priestly said. “I mean they were really nice. … I still got mine, it’s at home on my bookshelf.”
Justin Timberlake’s mother served as Ryan Gosling’s legal guardian for a few months so they could star on “The All-New Mickey Mouse Club” to jumpstart their careers.
In 2011, the former NSYNC singer went on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” where he dished on his time living with the “Barbie” star.
“His mother had to keep her job in Canada the second year that we were on the television show,” Timberlake explained at the time. “My mom was his guardian for like six months, so we actually lived together.”
He continued, “So, we were probably a little closer than the rest of the kids that were on the show because, you know, we had to share a bathroom.”
Timberlake praised Gosling, telling DeGeneres he is one of the “best actors of our generation.”
When making their debut into the entertainment industry in the ’60s, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito lived together.
In 2008, DeVito and Douglas spoke with the New York Daily News about what it was like to have each other as a roommate.
“Michael did the laundry,” DeVito told the outlet before Douglas chimed in, “Did he tell you I was a slob?”
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
“Danny was sloppy. No, really, he was a great roommate,” Douglas continued. “It was a magical time, We were getting paid to act.”
When asked about how they handled female company, Douglas explained, “Danny was already spending time with [future wife] Rhea [Perlman]. Me? Well, it was a magical time. You put a sock on the door.”
Douglas landed his first film role in 1966’s “A Giant Shadow,” with DeVito being cast in 1968 for “Dreams of Glass,” which released in 1970.
DeVito and Perlman married in 1982. They share three adult children: Lucy, Grace and Jacob.
In October 2012, they announced their separation after 30 years of marriage. They reconciled in March 2013 before splitting for the final time in March 2017.