King & Queen of Camp (Image via video still)

Cassandra “Elvira” Peterson has confirmed the unexpected death of Lynne Marie “Miss Yvonne” Stewart at 78.

On Facebook Friday, Peterson wrote:

My heart is breaking upon hearing the news of my dear friend Lynne Stewart’s passing. 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's career was well stretched across 50 years.

She made her movie debut in Drive, He Said (1971), directed by Jack Nicholson, and had a small but memorable bit in American Graffiti (1973). 

A member of the Groundlings, that's where she met Paul Reubens, in whose original 1981 stage show featuring Pee-wee Herman and Miss Yvonne she appeared.

She went on to play the part of the beauty-absorbed character many times, crucially in the Saturday-morning TV series Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986-1990) and in the various Pee-wee films and TV specials. She also appeared at autograph shows, as recently as a couple of  months ago, often in full Miss Yvonne drag — and it was a form of drag.

Some of her other movies: Tunnel Vision (1976), the comedy classic Pandemonium (1982), Young Doctors in Love (1982), Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) with Whoopi Goldberg, Summer School (1987), The Running Man (1987), Clear and Present Danger (1994) and Bridesmaids (2011).

Stewart played Maya Rudolph's mom in Bridesmaids, and Rudolph remembered her on IG. (Image via IG)

On TV, she was a frequent guest on Laverne & Shirley (1977-1983), her best friend Cindy Williams's series. She even voiced Cindy's Shirley Feeney character in animated versions of the show.

She actually appeared on dozens of shows, many of the most iconic series of the '70s and beyond, including M*A*S*H (1975-1977), Alice (1977), Dynasty (1984), Night Court (1990), Arrested Development (2004) and Curb Your Enthusiasm (2005).

Just a few years back, she guested on RuPaul's AJ and the Queen (2020).

One of her most recent, and biggest, gigs was on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-2023).