Paul Reubens, the actor and comedian whose character Pee-wee Herman became a 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.

Paul Reubens
Reubens brought Pee-wee back to the big screen in 2016 (Invision/AP)

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. Judd Apatow produced Pee-wee’s big-screen revival.

Paul Reubens as Pee-wee
Pee-wee Herman lived in a strange world that proved popular with both children and adults (AP)

The television series, Pee-wee’s Playhouse, ran for five seasons, earned 22 Emmys and attracted not only children but adults to Saturday morning TV.

Both silly and subversive and championing nonconformity, the Pee-wee universe was a trippy place, populated by things such as a talking armchair and a friendly pterodactyl.

Its central figure, who is fond of secret words and loves fruit salad so much he once married it, is prone to lines like: “I know you are, but what am I?” and: “Why don’t you take a picture; it’ll last longer?”

Reubens’ act was a hit because it worked on multiple levels, even though the actor insists that was not the plan.

“It’s for kids,” Reubens told The Associated Press in 2010.

“People have tried to get me for years to go: ‘It wasn’t really for kids, right?’ Even the original show was for kids. I always censored myself to have it be kid-friendly.

“The whole thing has been just a gut feeling from the beginning.

“That’s all it ever is and I think always ever be. Much as people want me to dissect it and explain it, I can’t. One, I don’t know, and two, I don’t want to know, and three, I feel like I’ll hex myself if I know.”