John Dixon Paragon (December 9, 1954 – April 3, 2021) was an American actor, writer and director. He is known for his work on the television series ''

Pee-wee's Playhouse ''Pee-wee's Playhouse'' is an American television series starring Paul Reubens as the childlike Pee-wee Herman that ran from 1986 to 1990 on Saturday mornings on CBS, and airing in reruns until July 1991. The show was developed from Reubens's po ...

'', where he portrayed Jambi the Genie and provided the voice for Pterri the Pterodactyl. He was also a writer and director on a number of episodes.

Early life

Paragon was born on December 9, 1954 in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

but grew up and attended schools in

Fort Collins, Colorado Fort Collins is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Larimer County, Colorado Larimer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Colorado. As of the 2020 census, the population was 359 ...

. He graduated from

Fort Collins High School Fort Collins High School is located at 3400 Lambkin Way, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is one of four public senior High school (North America), high schools in the Poudre School District. The school colors are purple and gold, and it ...

Career

Paragon got his start in the Los Angeles-based

improvisation Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...

group

The Groundlings The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniques ...

alongside

Paul Reubens Paul Reubens (; born Rubenfeld; August 27, 1952) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and children's entertainer. He is known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s, an ...

and

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...

. He played Jambi the Genie on the children's TV show ''

''. In addition to writing many of its regular-season episodes, he co-wrote (with Reubens) the ''

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special This is the complete episode list for ''Pee-wee's Playhouse''. A total of 45 half-hour episodes and 1 primetime special were recorded for CBS from 1986 until 1990. Series overview Episodes Season 1 (1986) Season 2 (1987) Special (1988) S ...

'' in 1988, for which they were nominated for an Emmy Award for Best Writing in a Children's Special. His other roles include Cedric, one half of the couple

Bob and Cedric This is a list of characters who appeared on ''Seinfeld''. This list features only characters who appeared in multiple episodes; those that appeared in only one are not included here. Primary characters Jerry Seinfeld George Costanza Elaine ...

on the television series ''

Seinfeld ''Seinfeld'' ( ) is an American television sitcom created by Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. It aired on NBC from July 5, 1989, to May 14, 1998, over nine seasons and List of Seinfeld episodes, 180 episodes. It stars Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld ( ...

''; the title character in the children's movie ''

The Frog Prince "The Frog Prince; or, Iron Henry" (german: Der Froschkönig oder der eiserne Heinrich, literally "The Frog King or the Iron Henry") is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 1). ...

''; the sex shop salesman in ''

Eating Raoul ''Eating Raoul'' is a 1982 American black comedy film written, directed by and starring Paul Bartel with Mary Woronov, Robert Beltran, Ed Begley Jr., Buck Henry, and Susan Saiger. It is about a prudish married couple (Bartel and Woronov) who re ...

''; and the owner of a strip-o-gram business in the 1986 film ''

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake to the west and Chinatown to the east. The culturally diverse neighborhood has become known fo ...

''. He collaborated with fellow Groundling

Cassandra Peterson Cassandra Peterson (born September 17, 1951) is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of the horror hostess character Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Peterson gained fame on Los Angeles television station KHJ-TV in her stage ...

on numerous Elvira projects, including the recurring role of The Breather, an annoying caller, for her first television series on

KHJ-TV KCAL-TV (channel 9) is an independent television station in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is owned by the CBS News and Stations group alongside CBS West Coast flagship KCBS-TV (channel 2). Both stations share studios at the C ...

-Los Angeles. He also made multiple appearances at Knott's Scary Farm with Elvira at the Good Time Theater. One of the show's highlights was when he walked amongst the audience as Ramone Azteca. Paragon worked with

Walt Disney Imagineering Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, Inc., commonly referred to as Imagineering, is the research and development arm of The Walt Disney Company, responsible for the creation, design, and construction of Disney theme parks and attra ...

on ways to incorporate improvisational performance into attractions at Disney parks. In this capacity, he performed as the keeper of

Lucky the Dinosaur Lucky the Dinosaur is an approximately green ''Segnosaurus'' free roaming audio animatronics figure which pulls a flower-covered cart and is led by "Chandler the Dinosaur Handler". Lucky premiered at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles o ...

during test runs of the animatronic figure. He returned to his performance as Jambi the Genie in the Broadway outing of the

Pee-wee Herman Pee-wee Herman is a comic fictional character created and portrayed by American comedian Paul Reubens. He is best known for his films and television series during the 1980s. The childlike Pee-wee Herman character developed as a stage act that ...

stage show that began performances at the Stephen Sondheim Theater on October 26, 2010.

Death

Paragon died on April 3, 2021 at his home in

Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Riverside County by land a ...

, at the age of 66. His cause of death was heart disease and chronic alcoholism. News of his death was not made public until June 18 of that year. He was cremated and his ashes were in the possession of

until they were interred at the

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angeles ...

on November 15, 2022. His urn is "a perfectly crafted depiction" of the purple-and-gold Jambi the Genie box.https://boingboing.net/2022/11/18/pee-wees-playhouse-actor-john-paragon-laid-to-rest-in-a-fitting-urn-a-jambi-the-genie-box.html

Filmography

Films

Also production consultant direct-to-video ''ThrillerVideo'' (1985).

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paragon, John 1954 births 2021 deaths 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American comedians 21st-century American screenwriters American male comedians American male screenwriters American male television actors American male television writers American television directors American television writers Male actors from Anchorage, Alaska Male actors from Colorado Screenwriters from Alaska