Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; born August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor. In 1982, Reubens began appearing in a show about a character he had been developing for years. The show was called "The Pee-wee Herman Show", and ran for five sold-out months; HBO also produced a successful special about it. Pee-wee became an instant cult figure and, for the next decade, Reubens was completely committed to his character, doing all of his public appearances and interviews as Pee-wee. His feature film, "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" (1985), directed by Tim Burton, was a financial and critical success, and soon developed into a cult film. Its sequel, "Big Top Pee-wee" (1988), was less successful. Between 1986 and 1990, Reubens starred as Pee-wee in the CBS Saturday-morning children's program "Pee-wee's Playhouse".