Search queries regarding Reubens' marital history inevitably pull up the name Chandi Heffner. In 1989, headlines proclaimed that Pee-wee Herman had tied the knot at a lavish estate in Hawaii. The story quickly became Hollywood folklore, but the legal reality was far more theatrical than matrimonial.
Heffner, known at the time as the adopted daughter of billionaire tobacco heiress Doris Duke, was a close confidante of Reubens. During a visit to Duke’s Honolulu estate, Shangri La, the duo staged an impromptu, humorous mock wedding at a nearby animal sanctuary. They walked a makeshift aisle surrounded by rescued animals and exchanged vows purely for entertainment among friends.
No marriage license was filed with the state of Hawaii, and neither party ever pursued legal recognition of the event. Reubens also had significant relationships across his life, including a high-profile multi-year romance with actress Debi Mazar during the 1990s. Mazar remained one of his most loyal defenders during his public trials, but the pair never married. For the entirety of his life, Reubens remained legally single.
