John Paragon

Acting

John Paragon

Born 1954-12-09 · 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.

Acting credits

Spaceballs poster
6.9

When the nefarious Dark Helmet hatches a plan to snatch Princess Vespa and steal her planet's air, space-bum-for-hire Lone Starr and his clueless sidekick fly to the rescue. Along the way, they meet Yogurt, who puts Lone Starr wise to the power of "The Schwartz." Can he master it in time to save the day?

Spaceballs

1987

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid poster
5.3

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.

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid

1992

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark poster
6.7

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, including her sinister uncle Vincent.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

1988

Things Are Tough All Over poster
5.6

Everybody has problems these days, and Cheech and Chong are no exceptions. They're hired by Slyman and Habib to drive a limousine to Las Vegas with $5 million secretly stashed in the front seat. In order to get there, the pair sells off the car piece by piece, including the seven-figure front seat. Cheech and Chong then have a much bigger problem - Slyman and Habib are after them, swearing to kill them after the appropriate torture.

Things Are Tough All Over

1982

Pee-wee's Big Adventure poster
6.5

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.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure

1985

Going Berserk poster
5.1

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.

Going Berserk

1983

The Pee-wee Herman Show poster
7.4

The original 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 irreverent overtones and jokes including 'mirror shoes' and others.

The Pee-wee Herman Show

1981

Pee-wee's Big Holiday poster
6.1

A fateful meeting with a mysterious stranger inspires Pee-wee Herman to take his first-ever holiday.

Pee-wee's Big Holiday

2016

Red Riding Hood poster
5.7

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.

Red Riding Hood

2006

UHF poster
6.7

The eccentric new manager of a UHF television channel tries to save the station from financial ruin with an odd array of programming.

UHF

1989

The Rich Man's Wife poster
5.4

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.

The Rich Man's Wife

1996

Cheech & Chong's Next Movie poster
5.9

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.

Cheech & Chong's Next Movie

1980

Double Trouble poster
4.7

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

Double Trouble

1992

Eating Raoul poster
6.5

A prudish married couple feel put upon by the swingers living in their apartment building. One night, by accident, they discover a way to both rid themselves of the “perverts” down the hall and simultaneously realize their dream of opening a restaurant.

Eating Raoul

1982

Get Out of My Room poster
5.4

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong attempt to finish a "video album" for their novelty record.

Get Out of My Room

1985

Pandemonium poster
4.8

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.

Pandemonium

1982

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special poster
7.2

Pee-wee Herman and pals are celebrating Christmas in the Playhouse in their own creative ways: Pee-wee makes a list for Santa Claus 1.5 miles long, teaches Little Richard how to ice skate, goes for a sleigh ride with Magic Johnson, enslaves Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello into making 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?

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special

1988

The Elvira Show poster
6.6

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.

The Elvira Show

1993

Every Breath poster
5.2

An unemployed actor gets involved with a strange woman who hangs out in lesbian nightclubs and her rich arms dealer husband.

Every Breath

1994

The Frog Prince poster
6.4

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."

The Frog Prince

1986

The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway poster
6.6

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.

The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway

2011

No artwork available
NR

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.

The Facts

1982

Echo Park poster
5.3

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.

Echo Park

1985

Last of the Great Survivors poster
7.5

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.

Last of the Great Survivors

1984

Behind the camera

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark poster
6.7

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, including her sinister uncle Vincent.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

1988

The Pee-wee Herman Show poster
7.4

The original 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 irreverent overtones and jokes including 'mirror shoes' and others.

The Pee-wee Herman Show

1981

Twin Sitters poster
6.4

An evil business executive is releasing dangerous toxins and the Barbarian Brothers set out to stop his evil work.

Twin Sitters

1994

Twin Sitters poster
6.4

An evil business executive is releasing dangerous toxins and the Barbarian Brothers set out to stop his evil work.

Twin Sitters

1994

Elvira's Haunted Hills poster
5.5

The setting is Carpathia. The year is 1851. When Elvira gets kicked out of an Inn for a slight monetary discrepancy, she is rescued by a local who takes her to stay at the castle in the hills high above the village. The fact that she happens to resemble the count's former "missing" wife opens a can of worms or two.

Elvira's Haunted Hills

2002

Double Trouble poster
4.7

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

Double Trouble

1992

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special poster
7.2

Pee-wee Herman and pals are celebrating Christmas in the Playhouse in their own creative ways: Pee-wee makes a list for Santa Claus 1.5 miles long, teaches Little Richard how to ice skate, goes for a sleigh ride with Magic Johnson, enslaves Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello into making 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?

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special

1988

The Elvira Show poster
6.6

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.

The Elvira Show

1993

The Paragon of Comedy poster
7.0

John Paragon and friends perform comedy skits as a variety of colorful characters.

The Paragon of Comedy

1983