YouTube Shaun Weiss
Shaun Weiss is an actor who is probably best known for his role in the Disney movie, The Mighty Ducks. Weiss got his start in television in the 1980s, when he appeared in the children’s show Peewee’s Playhouse. Since then, he’s appeared in sitcoms, like Empty Nest, and made occasional appearances in the sitcom King of Queens. He’s also appeared in the short-lived NBC show Freaks and Geeks. And he’s tried his hand at stand-up comedy.
In recent years, Weiss has not been acting and has fallen on hard times. The former star has been plagued with substance abuse issues. Last year, he was arrested for meth possession; in the same year, he was convicted of stealing from an electronics store. (He took just $151 worth of goods.)
On Monday, TMZ reported that Weiss had been arrested yet again. This time, Weiss was busted for allegedly being publicly intoxicated. TMZ says that their sources say Weiss was arrested for public intoxication Saturday around 1 AM in Oroville, CA. Sources told TMZ that the police held Weiss for a few hours before releasing him without a citation.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Weiss Grew Up in New Jersey. He Broke into Acting as One of the Playhouse Gang in PeeWee’s Playhouse
Shaun Weiss was born on August 27, 1978 in Montvale, New Jersey. He is the youngest of five children.
Montvale got his start as an actor playing a character named Elvis on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. Elvis was a member of the Playhouse Gang, a group of kids who would stop by and play with Pee-Wee Herman. The Playhouse Gang wasn’t always the same, and Elvis only appeared in Season One of the show. Season One aired in 1986, when Weiss was eight years old.
Pee-Wee’s Playhouse and the Pee-Wee Herman Show were both vehicles for Paul Rubens, the actor who played Pee-Wee Herman. The shows were hugely popular with children. But Paul Rubens was later dis-credited after his arrest for indecent exposure in an adult movie theater in 1991 in Florida.
2. Weiss Has Appeared In At Least 30 Nation-Wide Commercials, But Has Not Acted In Recent Years
Shaun Weiss had a long career, beginning in 1986 with his role on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. The actor has appeared in at least 30 ads that aired nation-wide. One of the memorable ads — for those who were watching movies on VHS back in 1990 — was an ad for Pizza Hut that appeared at the beginning of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie on VHS. You can see that here.
Weiss also appeared in ads for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese; ads for Castrol; and ads for Captain Morgan rum, among other places. But the actor doesn’t seem to have worked in many years. According to IMDB, his last known appearance was back in 2009 when he was featured in a Verizon ad. Weiss was 30 at that time. Since then, he has not acted in any nation-wide ads and hasn’t appeared in TV or movies.
3. Weiss Was Arrested Twice in 2017 — Once for Meth Possession, and Once for Petty Theft
Weiss’s last known ad was a spot he did for Verizon in 2009. After that the former child star went dark, only to resurface in 2017 when he was arrested for stealing from an electronics store. TMZ reported that Weiss was arrested for stealing just $151 worth of goods from Fry’s Electronics and was sentenced to 150 days in LA County Jail.
Weiss’s manager told TMZ that he thought a little jail time would “help” the actor, who was apparently working on writing a script. Then authorities reduced his sentence drastically, knocking it back from 150 days to just 12 days. A mere 5 days after Weiss had served out his short sentence, the actor was arrested again — this time for meth possession.
4. Weiss’s Most Recent Arrest Was For ‘Public Intoxication.’ He Was Let Go Without a Citation
On Saturday, August 4, Weiss was reportedly picked up in Orioville, CA on charges of public intoxication. TMZ got a copy of his mugshot, which reveals that the actor was having, at the very least, a tough day. The former child star looks tired, woozy, and disheveled. He also looks much older than 39 years old.
Weiss was apparently arrested at 1AM, about an hour north of Sacramento. It’s unclear whether he was alone when he was picked up by the police. TMZ reports that Weiss spent a few hours in the drunk tank and then police took pity on him and let him go — without issuing him a citation or charging him.
5. Weiss Is Probably Best Known For Playing the Goalie in Disney’s The Might Ducks
Weiss played Greg Goldberg in the first two Mighty Ducks movies. The movies, about a scrappy group of kids who play on an ice hockey team, first appeared in 1992 and were hugely successful. Their popularity even gave rise to the name of an actual hockey team, the Anaheim Ducks.