John Paragon

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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.

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John Paragon is known for work in acting across film and television. New Release currently presents 27 verified screen credits connected to this profile.

Selected work includes Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986), Echo Park (1985), Get Out of My Room (1985), Seinfeld (1989), Saturday Night Live (1975), Cheers (1982), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), Sledge Hammer! (1986). The recorded credits span 1975 to 2016, including 15 movies and 12 TV shows.

The filmography below lists available titles, release years and known roles. This profile is updated as additional verified information becomes available.