Lynne Marie Stewart, 'Pee-wee's Playhouse' and 'It's Always Sunny' actress, dies

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FILE - American actress Lynne Marie Stewart, wearing a blue dress, beside American actor and comedian Paul Reubens (Photo by Brian D. McLaughlin/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Lynne Marie Stewart, who starred in "Pee-wee’s Playhouse" and played Charlie’s mother on "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia," has died. She was 78.

Friends and former colleagues announced her death on social media. Her manager told TMZ that she died unexpectedly Friday afternoon at her sister’s home in California after doctors found a tumor between her liver and gall bladder in December. 

Who was Lynne Marie Stewart? 

Stewart played Miss Yvonne, "The Most Beautiful Woman in Puppetland," on "Pee-wee’s Playhouse" with Pee-wee creator Paul Reubens, who died in July 2023. 

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Stewart appeared in several other Pee-wee films, and was more recently known for her role as Charlie's mother on "It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Before she was diagnosed with the tumor in December, she had finished filming "Dink," a Ben Stiller film, and season 17 of "It’s Always Sunny," according to Deadline. 

Lynne Marie Stewart attends as The Groundlings Honor the Late Pee-Wee Herman at The Groundlings Theatre & School on July 22, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Lila Seeley/Getty Images)

According to IMDB, Stewart also appeared in "American Graffiti," "Laverne & Shirley," "M*A*S*H," "Life with Louie" and "Arrested Development."

What they're saying:

"My heart is breaking upon hearing the news of my dear friend Lynne Stewart’s passing," Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson wrote on Instagram. "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.’"

Stewart appeared with Peterson on "Elvira: Mistress of the Dark" and "The Elvira Show." They first met at The Groundlings, a Los Angeles improv and comedy club, where Stewart also met Reubens and Phil Hartman. 

Stewart’s friend Jonathan Stark, who worked with her on the original Pee-Wee Herman show, said on Facebook that she was "the kindest, most loving person I ever knew and she was without question, one of the most talented and funny people ever."

"I lost a friend today. And the world lost a great soul. Lynne Marie Stewart is gone … It seemed impossible to me as I felt that her goodness and light would live forever. I’m beyond heartbroken," he said.