Paul Reubens dead: Pee-wee Herman actor was 70

Paul Reubens, the actor who made millions around the world laugh with his Pee-wee Herman character, has died. He was 70.

“Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens, an iconic American actor, comedian, writer and producer whose beloved character Pee-wee Herman delighted generations of children and adults with his positivity, whimsy and belief in the importance of kindness,” his reps said in a statement to The Post.

The cause of death was cancer, according to the statement.

“Paul bravely and privately fought cancer for years with his trademark tenacity and wit. A gifted and prolific talent, he will forever live in the comedy pantheon and in our hearts as a treasured friend and man of remarkable character and generosity of spirit.”

A post to his official Instagram account included a quote from Reubens directly to be shared with his fans after his passing: “Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years. 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.”

Born Paul Rubenfeld in Peekskill, New York, on Aug. 27, 1952, and raised in Sarasota, Florida, Reubens seemed destined for a life in the performing arts from a young age.

In a 2004 interview with Conan O’Brien, he shared that he attended a circus camp that involved walking a tightrope and more.

At the camp, while wearing a “little Speedo bathing suit” at around age 12, he offered up a balance beam act in front of camp parents. He told O’Brien that he performed blindfolded and skipped through a ring of fire on the beam, and when he saw his parents in the audience, they were slack-jawed.

“I think it was then they knew,” he said.

Reubens stepped onto a stage for the very first time when he was just in sixth grade at Southside Elementary in Sarasota, performing as Nick Burns in “A Thousand Clowns” at The Players Theatre. He returned to The Players Theatre several times while at Brookside Junior High for productions of “The Riot Act,” “Camelot” and “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.”

He was president of his high school drama club at Sarasota High, where he was voted “Most Talented” as a senior notable and had starring roles in “The Comedy of Errors,” “My Fair Lady” and “Guys and Dolls.”

After enrolling in Boston University’s theatre department and spending a year there, he moved to Los Angeles to attend the Walt Disney-founded acting program at the California Institute of the Arts.

Reubens’ career began in the 1970s after he joined the comedy troupe the Groundlings in LA as an improv comedian and stage actor, where he created the Pee-wee Herman character in 1978 — who was named after a brand of Harmonica he had as a child.

After unsuccessfully landing a spot at “Saturday Night Live,” Reubens took the character to the stage, first as a midnight show at The Groundlings Theatre in February 1981 and eventually moved to the Roxy Theatre in LA, where it was filmed for an HBO special.

The whimsical and well-dressed character was originally a stage act for adult audiences, and the show sold out for five months straight in Los Angeles before he ultimately turned the act into a kid-friendly movie.

Reubens teamed with Tim Burton for the 1985 film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” for the character’s feature film debut.

The creator and star of the subversive 1986 to 1990 TV series “Pee-wee’s Playhouse” revisited his iconic, giddy character on occasion over the years, including Broadway’s “The Pee-wee Herman Show” in 2010 and the 2016 Netflix movie “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.”

“Pee-wee’s Playhouse” ran for five years and earned 22 Emmy awards in its time, while Reubens himself has been nominated for 14 Emmys and won two. His star on Hollywood’s Walk Of Fame was awarded in 1988.

In 2010 he also brought him back for a live Broadway installment of “The Pee-wee Herman Show,” which was filmed for HBO and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special.

The performer has also flexed his acting chops with broader roles beyond his most memorable part, including arcs on shows like “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow,” “Gotham” and “The Blacklist.”

In a clip that resurfaced nearly a decade ago, it was revealed that Reubens was also in the running for another iconic character: Roger Rabbit. A YouTuber uncovered footage from the early 1980s that showed Reubens voicing the role in an early version of “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”

Despite his happy-go-lucky character, Reubens apparently had an antithetical side, too. Reubens was arrested for indecent exposure at a Florida porn house in 1991, and in 2002 he was charged with possessing images that were initially characterized as child pornography. The latter charges were dropped in 2004 when Reubens pleaded guilty to a lesser obscenity charge.

The controversy soon gave way to Reubens’ reinvention as a once-again beloved character actor, landing roles in Ben Stiller’s “Mystery Men” and “Blow,” co-starring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz.

Reubens recently wrote the first draft of his memoir, was putting the final touches on two more Pee-wee movie scripts and was developing some TV projects.

He is survived by his sister, Abby, and her wife, Helia; his brother Luke; and nieces Lily and Sarah.

Reubens requested that any donations made in support and sympathy be made in honor of his late parents, Judy and Milton Rubenfeld, to Stand Up to Cancer or other organizations supporting dementia and Alzheimer’s.