The actor Paul Reubens – best known for his 1980s portrayal of the children’s film character Pee-wee Herman – died on Sunday night at the age of 70, years after he had been diagnosed with cancer, according to his team.

A statement on Monday on a Facebook page for the Herman character said: “Last night we said farewell to Paul Reubens.”

The statement added that the three-time Emmy nominee was “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.

“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.”

“Please accept my apology for not going public with what I’ve been facing the last six years,” wrote Reubens in a statement posted to Instagram after his death, along with his team’s statement. “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 27 August 1952, Reubens was raised in Sarasota, Florida, by parents Judy – a teacher – and Milton, an automobile salesman, former second world war pilot and founding member of the Israeli air force. He was first drawn to the stage in the sixth grade and became the president of the drama club at Sarasota high school. He studied theater at Boston University for a year before transferring to the drama department at California Institute of the Arts.

Once in California, Reubens joined the LA-based comedy troupe The Groundlings, where he created the beloved comic character Pee-wee (named for a brand of harmonica he owned as a kid) in 1978. After a failed audition for Saturday Night Live in 1980, he took Pee-wee to the stage, securing a cult following and an HBO special in 1981. He appeared in the Cheech & Chong films Next Movie (1980) and Nice Dreams (1981). Beginning in 1982, he made several memorable appearances on Late Night with David Letterman, always in character and never revealing his real identity.

Following his breakout, Reubens took the character on national tour, including a stop at Carnegie Hall in 1984, and in films such as Tim Burton’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985), a critical and commercial success, and Randal Kleiser’s follow-up Big Top Pee-wee (1988).

But he’s perhaps best remembered for his children’s show Pee-wee’s Playhouse, which ran on CBS Saturday mornings from 1986 to 1991 and garnered 22 Emmy awards. The show’s 45 episodes, full of whimsical talking furniture and an imaginative playhouse, featured such guest-starring characters as Captain Carl (Phil Hartman), Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne), Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart), Reba the Mail Lady (S Epatha Merkerson), Jambi the Genie (John Paragon), Pterri the Pterodactyl, Clocky and Magic Screen.

His image as a childhood television icon was tarnished with an arrest for indecent exposure at an adult theater in Sarasota in 1991. At the center of a national sex scandal, Reubens stepped back from the character and began conducting interviews as himself.

Yet the scandal did not totally derail his career. In the mid-1990s, he earned one of two Emmy nominations unrelated to his work as Pee-wee for a recurring role on the CBS series Murphy Brown. And he garnered critical praise for his turn as a hair dresser-turned-drug dealer in the 2001 drama Blow, starring Penelope Cruz and Johnny Depp.

Other TV credits included Gotham, Dirt, 30 Rock and The Blacklist.

He would not return to Pee-wee Herman until 2010, when he led a Broadway revival and played the character in appearances on WWE Raw and several Funny or Die sketches. His final film role was in Netflix’s Pee-wee’s Big Holiday in 2016, a sequel to the 1988 Big Top movie.

Tributes to the eccentric comedian began pouring in soon after news of his death. “Love you so much, Paul. One in all time,” wrote the actor Natasha Lyonne, who made her TV debut on Pee-wee’s Playhouse at age six. “Thank you for my career & your forever friendship all these years & for teaching us what a true original is.”

Jimmy Kimmel tweeted: “Paul Reubens was like no one else – a brilliant and original comedian who made kids and their parents laugh at the same time. He never forgot a birthday and shared his genuine delight for silliness with everyone he met. My family and I will miss him.”

“No tweet can capture the magic, generosity, artistry, and devout silliness of Paul Reubens,” wrote Conan O’Brien on Twitter. “Everyone I know received countless nonsensical memes from Paul on their birthday, and I mean EVERYONE. His surreal comedy and unrelenting kindness were a gift to us all. Damn, this hurts.”

Film-maker Paul Feig called Reubens’s death “devastating” as he was “such a comedy genius. From his Letterman appearances to his TV shows and movies, he was so original and hilarious. And such a sweet man too. This is a huge loss for comedy. Thanks for all the laughs, Paul.”

And Laraine Newman, an original SNL member and friend of Reubens’ since their time at Cal Arts, shared a photo in which she called him “the kind of friend that you can text out of nowhere or have a 3 hour lunch with. And don’t get me started on the birthday texts-he sent them ALL DAY. I feel sick.”

Reubens is survived by two siblings, Abby and Luke. In an Instagram statement posted after his death, he requested that any “expressions of sympathy” be directed toward his late parents, to the organization Stand Up to Cancer or to foundations involved with dementia or Alzheimer’s care, support or research.