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It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Pee-Wee’s Playhouse alum Lynne Marie Stewart has died. She was 78.
“My heart is breaking upon hearing the news of my dear friend @lynnestewart78’s passing,” Cassandra Peterson, who previously costarred with Stewart in her 1988 film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, wrote via Instagram on Friday, February 21. “One of the kindest, sweetest, funniest women who ever lived. The iconic Miss Yvonne of Pee-wee’s Playhouse: She’ll always be ‘the most beautiful woman in Puppetland.’ 💔.”
In addition to her accomplished acting career, Stewart portrayed Miss Yvonne on Pee-wee’s Playhouse from 1986 to 1980 and several of its franchise spinoffs.
A cause of death for Stewart has not been revealed.
Stewart had met Pee-wee’s Playhouse star Paul Reubens, who died in July 2023, when they were both members of the famed Los Angeles improv troupe, The Groundlings, in the 1970s. Stewart also visited with Reubens shortly before his death.
“I got to be in the hospital with him,” she told People in July 2024. “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 so glad to be able to tell him that.”
Stewart added, “He was funny to the end. I said to him, ‘You fulfilled a little girl’s dream.’ He was like, ‘Oh, do I have to hear this story again?’ And so he never lost it. He never lost his sense of humor.”
Many famous faces joined Peterson, 73, in mourning the late actress’ legacy.
“Our dear sweet friend, the great Lynne Stewart passed away today. You may know her as Miss Yvonne from Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and we met her through Paul Reubens,” Somebody Feed Phil star Phil Rosenthal wrote via Instagram on Friday. “We all fell in love and they became family. Lynne was always charming, wonderful, even magical- funny and bawdy as hell and sweet to everyone, especially the kids, who adored her.”
He continued, “How could you not? An angel. I love you Lynne, will miss you terribly, but so happy and lucky to have known you at all. You’re so much more than the most beautiful woman in Puppetland.”
Actor Drew Powell also expressed his condolences.
“Lynne Marie Stewart was just the kindest most affirming most supportive person I’ve come across. Always in my corner. Always beaming with positivity and love,” Powell, 49, wrote via Instagram on Friday. “What a legacy she leaves. We will miss her very much… Farewell Miss Yvonne. You’re the most beautiful woman in puppetland, inside and out!”
