Tim Burton pays tribute to Paul Reubens: My career 'would not have happened without his support'

Like millions of fans around the world, Tim Burton is still processing the news that his colleague and friend Paul Reubens died Sunday at 70 years old.

On Monday, the director posted a photo of himself on set with the Pee-wee Herman actor, who played the title role in Burton's directorial debut, 1985's Pee-wee's Big Adventure. The Instagram post was accompanied by a caption that began with how "shocked and saddened" by the news of Reubens' passing: "I'll never forget how Paul helped me at the beginning of my career. It would not have happened without his support. He was a great artist. I'll miss him."

Burton was only 25 when he directed Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Though he had no prior experience as a feature-film director, he quickly bonded with Reubens, who was impressed by his Frankenweenie short. Reubens had spent more than a decade developing the project before he chose a director to bring it to life. The result was a strange and imaginative cult classic that kicked off Burton's legendary career.

"I think it was the wallpaper in Frankenweenie, in the second shot of the movie," Reubens told Collider in a 2016 interview of why he felt drawn to Burton's work. "From the first minute of his film, I could tell that he was somebody who was very interested in style. He brought style to something, and a lot of young directors aren't there yet. A lot of people who have directed for long careers still don't have much style. So, I could tell that he had a style, and that he understood production design and art direction."

Reubens added that at the time of production, he was still young and new to the business and "didn't realize how crazy it was to hire [the relatively unknown] Tim Burton, at the time. And ultimately, in hindsight, it wasn't crazy, at all."

Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty; Mike Pont/WireImage Tim Burton; Paul Reubens

The duo worked together again when Burton tapped Reubens for a brief appearance as the Penguin's father in Batman Returns, and once more for a voice role in The Nightmare Before Christmas, which Burton produced.

Reubens' death was announced on Monday, with the actor revealing in a posthumous message that he'd spent years quietly fighting cancer. "Please accept my apology for not going public with what I've been facing the last six years," Reubens said. "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."

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