John Paragon
Born: 1954-12-09 in Los Angeles, California, USA
Known For: Acting
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. John Dixon Paragon (born 9 December 1954) is an American actor, writer, and director. He was born in Anchorage, Alaska, on an Army base. He grew up and attended schools in Fort Collins, Colorado. Paragon is probably best known for his work on children's show Pee-wee's Playhouse where he played Jambi the Genie and voiced Pterri the Pterodactyl. In addition to writing many of the regular season episodes of Playhouse, Paragon also co-wrote (with Paul Reubens) the acclaimed Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special in 1988, for which they were nominated an Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Children's Special. Some of Paragon's other memorable roles include Cedric, one half of the gay couple Bob and Cedric on the television series Seinfeld; the title character in the children's movie The Frog Prince; the sex shop salesman in the cult favorite Eating Raoul; and the owner of a Strip-o-gram business in the 1986 film Echo Park. Paragon got his start in the Los Angeles-based improvisation group The Groundlings alongside Reubens and Phil Hartman. He also collaborated with fellow Groundling Cassandra Peterson on numerous Elvira projects, including the recurring role of The Breather, an annoying caller, for her first television series on KHJ-TV-Los Angeles. In recent years, Paragon has worked with Walt Disney Imagineering on ways to incorporate improvisational performance into attractions at Disney parks. In this capacity, he performed as the keeper of Lucky the Dinosaur during the test runs of the animatronic figure. Paragon returned to his performance as Jambi the Genie in the Broadway outing of the new Pee-wee Herman stage show that began performances 26 October 2010 at the Stephen Sondheim Theater. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Paragon, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
2016
- Pee-wee's Big Holiday as TV Cameraman
2011
- The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway as Jambi
2006
- Red Riding Hood as Fisherman
2002
- Elvira's Haunted Hills ... (Writer)
1996
- The Rich Man's Wife as Maitre D'
1994
- Every Breath
- Twin Sitters ... (Director)
- High Tide ... (Director)
- Storybook Cinema
1993
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Bokar
- The Elvira Show as Reinfield (voice)
1992
- Renegade ... (Director)
- Honey, I Blew Up the Kid as Lab Technician
- Double Trouble as FBI Agent
1991
- Silk Stalkings ... (Director)
- Harry and the Hendersons as Arnold
1988
- Elvira: Mistress of the Dark as Gas Station Attendant
- Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special as Jambi / Pterri (voice)
1987
- Spaceballs as Dink (voice) (uncredited)
1986
- Sledge Hammer!
- Pee-wee's Playhouse as Jambi
- The Frog Prince as Ribbit / Prince of Freedly
- Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills
1985
- Echo Park as Hugo
- Pee-wee's Big Adventure as Movie Lot Actor
- Get Out of My Room as Robert Walters
1984
- Last of the Great Survivors as Beef
1983
- Going Berserk as Rooster
- The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show
- The Paragon of Comedy as Dr Berger / Debbie / Mr Excitement / Ramone Azteca and others
1982
- Cheers as Grif Palmer
- The Facts
- Pandemonium as Prisoner
- Madame's Place as Holistic Doctor
- Eating Raoul as Sex Shop Salesman
- Things Are Tough All Over as Red Carpet Man #1
1981
- Elvira's Movie Macabre
- The Pee-wee Herman Show as Jambi the Genie
1980
- Cheech & Chong's Next Movie as Director (Groundling)