Pee-wee Herman

Pee-wee Aloysius Herman
Paul Reubens in character as Pee-wee Herman at the 1988 Academy Awards
First appearance	The Groundlings (1977)
Created by	Paul Reubens Phil Hartman
Portrayed by	Paul Reubens
Information
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Occupation	Stand-up comedian, actor
Family	Herman Herman (father, deceased) Honny Herman (mother) Hermione Herman (sister)

Pee-wee Aloysius 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.

Due to negative media attention following a scandal in 1991, Reubens decided to shelve his alter ego during the 1990s, then gradually resurrected it during the following decade. It was at that time that Reubens addressed plans to write a new Pee-wee film, Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Movie. In June 2007, Reubens appeared as Pee-wee Herman for the first time since 1991 at Spike TV's Guys' Choice Awards.

In the 1970s, Reubens joined the Los Angeles-based improvisational comedy team the Groundlings and remained a member for six years, working with Bob McClurg, John Paragon, Susan Barnes and Phil Hartman. Hartman and Reubens became close friends, often writing and working on material together. Reubens wrote sketches, developed his improvisational skills and, with Hartman, he developed the Pee-wee Herman character.