by Abb Jones
The Reelness

Lynne Marie Stewart, best known for playing the iconic character Miss Yvonne on Pee-wee’s Playhouse, has died at the age of 78. Her longtime friend, actress Cassandra Peterson, a.k.a. Elvira, shared the sad news via Instagram Friday evening. Her death comes after a tumor was found near her liver and gallbladder in mid-December.

Dubbed by Paul Reubens’ character as “The Most Beautiful Woman in Puppetland,” Stewart was the only other person besides Reubens to also appear in all three Pee-wee Herman films, 1985’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, 1988’s Big Top Pee-wee. and 2016’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.

Reubens, who died of leukemia and lung cancer in 2023, met Stewart while participating in the Los Angeles sketch comedy group The Groundlings, their big break occurring when Reubens’ 1981 stage play, The Pee-wee Herman Show, aired on HBO.

Just a year ago, the L.A. native had recounted her last conversation with Reubens.

“He said, ‘I have loved deeply, and I’ve been loved in return. I said ‘Paul you’re loved all over the world.’ And I was glad to be able to tell him that.” -Lynne Marie Stewart

In addition to her Pee-wee Herman ventures, the Los Angeles native’s most recent role was as Charlie Kenny’s mother Bonnie from 2005 to 2023 in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Stewart also appeared in 1973’s American Graffiti, Laverne & Shirley, M*A*S*H* and Arrested Development.