John Paragon

John Paragon

Born: December 9, 1954
in Los Angeles, California, USA
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.

Movies for John Paragon...

Pee-wee's Big Holiday
Title: Pee-wee's Big Holiday
Character: TV Cameraman
Released: March 15, 2016
Type: Movie
A fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday.
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The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway
Title: The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway
Character: Jambi
Released: March 19, 2011
Type: Movie
Pee-Wee is excited when Jambi the genie grants him a wish. He wishes to fly but gets upset when he sees Captain Carl and Miss Yvonne on a romantic date with each other.
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Red Riding Hood
Title: Red Riding Hood
Character: Fisherman
Released: June 27, 2006
Type: Movie
Teenage Claire would rather hang out with her friends at the mall than to stay home with her brother Matt while Grandma babysits. Who wouldn't? Unfortunately, Grandma isn't about to let Claire out of the house. Worse, she insists that Claire and Matt listen to her reworking of the Brothers Grimm classic tale "Little Red Riding Hood". Fortunately, Grandma has a sense of humor, and adds some modern twists. Claire imagines herself as Red, and her brother, parents and grandma as....her brother, parents and grandma.
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The Rich Man's Wife
Title: The Rich Man's Wife
Character: Maitre D'
Released: September 13, 1996
Type: Movie
A rich man's wife finds she has a bad prenuptial agreement with an even worse husband. Over drinks with a stranger, she fantasizes about doing her husband in to void the prenup — but much to her surprise, the stranger decides to turn her imagination into reality.
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Title: Night Stand with Dick Dietrick
Released: May 26, 1995
Type: TV
Night Stand with Dick Dietrick is an American television comedy show that satirized American tabloid talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show and The Jenny Jones Show. The series was originally broadcast in first-run syndication from 1995 to 1997, as well as on the E! Entertainment Television network. Night Stand was co-created by Paul Abeyta, Peter Kaikko and actor/writer Timothy Stack, who also starred as the show's host Dick Dietrick.
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Title: Storybook Cinema
Released: April 2, 1994
Type: TV
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Every Breath
Title: Every Breath
Released: March 30, 1994
Type: Movie
An unemployed actor gets involved with a strange woman who hangs out in lesbian nightclubs and her rich arms dealer husband.
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Title: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Character: Bokar
Released: January 3, 1993
Type: TV
At Deep Space Nine, a space station located next to a wormhole in the vicinity of the liberated planet of Bajor, Commander Sisko and crew welcome alien visitors, root out evildoers and solve all types of unexpected problems that come their way.
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The Elvira Show
Title: The Elvira Show
Character: Reinfield (voice)
Released: January 1, 1993
Type: Movie
Filmed for CBS in 1993, this unaired pilot features the witch Elvira, her aunt, and their pet cat welcoming a long-lost niece into their new Kansas home and contending with a couple of overzealous cops.
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Ring of the Musketeers
Title: Ring of the Musketeers
Character: Air Traffic Controller Manfred Wenzel
Released: December 1, 1992
Type: Movie
Modern day "Musketeers" attempt to become protectors of the inocent. While the biking trio rescue kindnapped children, guard witnesses, and chase mafia types, they also seek the missing fourth musketeer, who wears the famous musketeers' ring.
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Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
Title: Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
Character: Lab Technician
Released: July 16, 1992
Type: Movie
Wayne Szalinski is at it again. But instead of shrinking things, he tries to make a machine that can make things grow. As in the first one, his machine isn't quite accurate. But when he brings Nick & his toddler son Adam to see his invention, the machine unexpectedly starts working. And when Adam comes right up to the machine, he gets zapped along with his stuffed bunny.
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Double Trouble
Title: Double Trouble
Character: FBI Agent
Released: February 14, 1992
Type: Movie
Two beefed-up twins operating on opposing sides of the law, team up to stop a nefarious crook in this actioner. Peter Jade is a notoriously arrogant burglar who ends up with the key to an enormous underground cache of diamonds. David Jade is a cop who joins forces with Peter after greedy Philip Chamberlain, wanting the diamonds for himself, kills David's partner
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Title: Harry and the Hendersons
Character: Arnold
Released: January 13, 1991
Type: TV
The Hendersons, an upwardly mobile Seattle family, bring home what they believe to be a dead Bigfoot. But he has only been wounded by a hunter, and the Hendersons offer the creature who they come to call Harry a temporary home until a recovers his health.
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UHF
Title: UHF
Character: Richard Fletcher
Released: July 21, 1989
Type: Movie
The eccentric new manager of a UHF television channel tries to save the station from financial ruin with an odd array of programming.
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Title: Seinfeld
Character: Cedric
Released: July 5, 1989
Type: TV
A stand-up comedian and his three offbeat friends weather the pitfalls and payoffs of life in New York City in the '90s. It's a show about nothing.
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Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
Title: Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
Character: Jambi / Pterri (voice)
Released: December 21, 1988
Type: Movie
Pee-wee Herman and pals are celebrating Christmas in the Playhouse in their own creative ways: Pee-wee makes a list for Santa Claus 1 1/2 miles long, teaches Little Richard how to ice skate, goes for a sleigh ride with Magic Johnson, commands Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello to make Christmas cards, receives a long phone call from Dinah Shore, even has more musical fun with k.d. lang, the Del Rubio Triplettes and Charo! Finally, Big Red arrives and announces that Pee-wee's Christmas list was so big, he didn't have enough presents for all the children of the world. Will Pee-wee follow his own advice and help others?
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Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
Title: Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
Character: Gas Station Attendant
Released: September 30, 1988
Type: Movie
Arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts to claim her inheritance, horror hostess Elvira receives a less than enthusiastic reception from the conservative locals -- amongst them, her sinister uncle Vincent, who, unbeknownst to her, is an evil warlock.
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The Frog Prince
Title: The Frog Prince
Character: Ribbit / Prince Of Freedly
Released: October 5, 1986
Type: Movie
Children's musical based on Grimm's fairy tale of The Frog-King. A young girl learns how to be a good friend and princess with the help of a "tall frog."
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Title: Sledge Hammer!
Released: September 23, 1986
Type: TV
Sledge Hammer! is an American satirical police sitcom produced by New World Television that ran for two seasons on ABC from 1986 to 1988. The series was created by Alan Spencer and stars David Rasche as Inspector Sledge Hammer, a preposterous caricature of the standard "cop on the edge" character. Al Jean and Mike Reiss, best known for their work on The Simpsons, wrote for the show and worked as story editors.
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Title: Pee-wee's Playhouse
Character: Jambi
Released: September 13, 1986
Type: TV
Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman.
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Title: Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills
Released: April 25, 1986
Type: TV
Leo and Liz Green are nouveau riche social climbers who have just moved to posh Beverly Hills from New Jersey. They are desperate to fit in with their new surroundings, which they find to be quite intimidating.
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Echo Park
Title: Echo Park
Character: Hugo
Released: November 5, 1985
Type: Movie
In the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, everybody is somebody else. May, a single mother who delivers strip-O-grams, dreams of being an actress. She rents one of her rooms out to a pizza-man cum songwriter named Jonathan. Meanwhile, in the next apartment, August, an Austrian bodybuilder, fancies himself the next Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the pressures of everyday life in LA mount, Jonathan and August vie for May's love.
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Get Out of My Room
Title: Get Out of My Room
Character: Robert Walters
Released: October 1, 1985
Type: Movie
Get Out of My Room, was a mockumentary in the style of This Is Spinal Tap, written and directed by Cheech Marin. In the film, he and Tommy Chong are shown attempting to finish a "video album" for their novelty record Get Out of My Room.
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Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Title: Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Character: Movie Lot Actor
Released: July 26, 1985
Type: Movie
The eccentric and childish Pee-wee Herman embarks on a big adventure when his beloved bicycle is stolen. Armed with information from a fortune-teller and a relentless obsession with his prized possession, Pee-wee encounters a host of odd characters and bizarre situations as he treks across the country to recover his bike.
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Last of the Great Survivors
Title: Last of the Great Survivors
Character: Beef
Released: January 3, 1984
Type: Movie
A dedicated social worker joins forces with a group of senior citizens fighting City Hall to prevent the demolition of their apartment building and falls for the man she meets on a blind date at a punk rock club. She soon learns that he is the building inspector who condemned the seniors' decrepit home, forcing her to turn to her amorous lawyer ex-boyfriend to find the loophole that will save the building.
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Going Berserk
Title: Going Berserk
Character: Rooster
Released: September 30, 1983
Type: Movie
John Bourgignon, a drummer-chauffeur engaged to the daughter of a United States senator, encounters a sleazy film director, the leader of an aerobics cult, and other crazed characters in the days leading up to his wedding.
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Title: The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show
Released: September 10, 1983
Type: TV
The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show is the sixth incarnation of the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. It premiered on September 10, 1983, and ran for one season on ABC as a half-hour program made up of two eleven-minute short cartoons. The show is a return to the mystery solving format and reintroduces Daphne after a four-year absence. The plots of each episode feature her, Shaggy, Scooby-Doo, and Scrappy-Doo solving supernatural mysteries under the cover of being reporters for a teen magazine.
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The Paragon of Comedy
Title: The Paragon of Comedy
Character: Dr Berger / Debbie / Mr Excitement / Ramone Azteca and others
Released: January 16, 1983
Type: Movie
John Paragon and friends perform comedy skits as a variety of colorful characters.
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Title: Cheers
Released: September 30, 1982
Type: TV
The story about a blue-collar Boston bar run by former sports star Sam Malone and the quirky and wonderful people who worked and drank there.
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Title: Madame's Place
Character: Holistic Doctor
Released: September 20, 1982
Type: TV
Madame's Place is an American sitcom that featured the misadventures of Madame, a puppet in the form of a bawdy old movie star with a naughty sense of humor.
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Things Are Tough All Over
Title: Things Are Tough All Over
Character: Red Carpet Man #1
Released: August 4, 1982
Type: Movie
Cheech and Chong are hired to drive a limo from Chicago to Las Vegas by two shady Arabs - Mr. Slyman and Prince Habib. Unbeknownst to them, five million dollars of dirty money has been stuffed throughout the car.
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The Facts
Title: The Facts
Released: June 1, 1982
Type: Movie
Originally a pilot that aired as a late movie on the CBS network. it was never picked up to continue as a series. It featured Phil Hartman, Richard Lewis, Richard Belzer, and has appearances by young Bob Saget and Emo Phillips. Very obscure, it wasn't included in any of the mentioned performers' filmographies until 2024.
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Pandemonium
Title: Pandemonium
Character: Prisoner
Released: April 1, 1982
Type: Movie
A former high school student who always wanted to be a cheerleader decides to reopen the cheerleading program at her former high school after years of closure for being targeted by a serial killer.
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Eating Raoul
Title: Eating Raoul
Character: Sex Shop Salesman
Released: March 24, 1982
Type: Movie
A relatively boring Los Angeles couple discover a bizarre, if not murderous way to get funding for opening a restaurant.
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Title: Elvira's Movie Macabre
Released: September 26, 1981
Type: TV
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, presents low-budget scary movies and provides sarcastic, campy commentary.
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The Pee-wee Herman Show
Title: The Pee-wee Herman Show
Character: Jambi the Genie
Released: September 11, 1981
Type: Movie
An adult-oriented version of what would eventually become an award-winning children's classic. This version of the show features Pee-wee's playhouse and many of the characters of the later series, but with adult and sexual overtones and jokes including "mirror shoes" and others.
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Cheech & Chong's Next Movie
Title: Cheech & Chong's Next Movie
Character: Director
Released: July 18, 1980
Type: Movie
Perennially stoned Cheech and Chong tear through the city of Los Angeles, causing trouble wherever they go. After Cheech loses his job, the two pot enthusiasts head to the welfare offices where Cheech's girlfriend, Donna, works. Instead of collecting unemployment, they find themselves thrown back on the streets, searching for a way to earn new income. But when Cheech's cousin, "Red" Mendoza, arrives, things get even crazier.