“The Gong Show” creator and host Chuck Barris, who died Tuesday at age 87, received a heartfelt tribute on Wednesday from “Gong Show” alum Pee-wee Herman, who called Barris a “wonderful, happy, funny guy.”
In a post published Wednesday, Herman — whose real name is Paul Reubens — recalled appearing on “The Gong Show” more than a dozen times in the 1970s.
Reubens also appeared on multiple episodes of another Barris’ creation, “The Dating Game,” where he introduced the Pee-wee character sometime in 1979.
“RIP Chuck Barris, creator of The Gong Show. I appeared three times in his show The Dating Game, and FOURTEEN times on The Gong Show, many times in complete disguise,” Reubens wrote. “He helped support many artists by having them on The Gong Show. He was a wonderful, happy, funny guy. Rest In Peace, Chuck.”
Barris died of natural causes in his home in Palisades, New York, according to a statement from his family to TheWrap.
The energetic host was also renowned for writing the pop song “Palisades Park,” a hit for Freddy Cannon. Also an author, Barris wrote a hit autobiography titled “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind,” along with the follow-up books “Bad Grass Never Dies” and “Della: A Memoir of My Daughter,” about the death of his only child from drug abuse.
Watch one of Reubens’ appearances on “The Gong Show” below.