Pee Wee Herman actor dead aged 70 after Paul Reubens loses six-year battle with cancer

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose character Pee-wee Herman became a pop-cultural phenomenon, has died aged 70. Reubens died on Sunday night after a six-year struggle with cancer that he did not make public, his publicist said in a statement. "Please accept my apology for not going public with what I've been facing the last six years," Reubens said in a statement released with the announcement of his death."I have always felt a huge amount of love and respect from my friends, fans and supporters.

I have loved you all so much and enjoyed making art for you."The character with his too-tight grey suit, white chunky shoes and red bow tie was best known for the film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and the TV series Pee-wee's Playhouse.Herman created Pee-wee when he was part of the Los Angeles improv group The Groundlings in the late 1970s.The live Pee-wee Herman Show debuted at a Los Angeles theatre in 1981 and was a success with both children during matinees as well as adults at midnight shows.

HBO later aired the show as a special.Reubens took Pee-wee to the big screen in 1985's Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The film, in which Pee-wee's cherished bike is stolen, was said to be loosely based on Vittorio De Sica's Italian neo-realist classic, The Bicycle Thief.The film, directed by Tim Burton and co-written by Phil Hartman of Saturday Night Live, sent Pee-wee on a nationwide escapade.

The movie was a success, grossing 40 million dollars (£31 million), and spawned a cult following for its oddball whimsy.A sequel followed three years later in the less well-received Big Top Pee-wee, in which Pee-wee seeks to join a circus.The character would not headline another movie until 2016 with Pee-wee's Big Holiday, for Netflix.