Pee-wee Herman is a
comic fictional character created and portrayed by American
comedian Paul Reubens. He is best known for his two television series and film series during the 1980s. The childlike Pee-wee Herman character developed as a stage act that quickly led to an
HBO special in 1981. As the stage performance gained further popularity, Reubens took the character to motion picture with
Pee-wee's Big Adventure in 1985, toning down the adult innuendo for the appeal of children. This paved the way for
Pee-wee's Playhouse, an
Emmy Award-winning children's series that ran on
CBS from 1986 to 1991. Another film,
Big Top Pee-wee, was released in 1988.