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John Paragon
John Paragon as Cedric inSeinfeld
Born	John Dixon Paragon (1954-12-09)December 9, 1954 Anchorage,Alaska Territory, U.S.
Died	April 3, 2021(2021-04-03) (aged 66) Palm Springs, California, U.S.
Occupations	Actor writer director
Years active	1980–2021
Notable work	Pee-wee's Playhouse

John Dixon Paragon (December 9, 1954 – April 3, 2021) was an American actor, writer and director. He was best known for his work on the television seriesPee-wee's Playhouse, where he portrayed Jambi the Genie^[1] and voiced Pterri the Pterodactyl.^[2] He was also a writer and director on a number of episodes.^[3]

Paragon was born on December 9, 1954, inAnchorage, Alaska,^[4] but grew up and attended schools inFort Collins, Colorado. He graduated fromFort Collins High School in 1973.^[5][6]

Paragon got his start in the Los Angeles-basedimprovisation groupthe Groundlings alongsidePaul Reubens andPhil Hartman.

He played Jambi the Genie on the children's TV showPee-wee's Playhouse. In addition to writing many of its regular-season episodes, he co-wrote (with Reubens) thePee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special 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 coupleBob and Cedric on the television seriesSeinfeld; the title character in the children's movieThe Frog Prince; the sex shop salesman inEating Raoul; and the owner of a strip-o-gram business in the 1986 filmEcho Park.

He collaborated with fellow GroundlingCassandra Peterson on numerous Elvira projects, including the recurring role of The Breather, an annoying caller, for her first television series onKHJ-TV-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 withWalt Disney Imagineering on ways to incorporate improvisational performance into attractions at Disney parks. In this capacity, he performed as the keeper ofLucky the Dinosaur during test runs of the animatronic figure.

He returned to his performance as Jambi the Genie in the Broadway outing of thePee-wee Herman stage show that began performances at theStephen Sondheim Theater on October 26, 2010.

Paragon died on April 3, 2021, at his home inPalm Springs, California, 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.^{[2][6][7][8][9]} He was cremated and his ashes were in the possession ofCassandra Peterson until they were interred at theHollywood Forever Cemetery on November 15, 2022.^[10] His urn is "a perfectly crafted depiction" of the purple-and-gold Jambi the Genie box.^[11]

Also production consultant direct-to-videoThrillerVideo (1985).

• John Paragon atIMDb

• 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
• Comedians from Alaska
• Comedians from Colorado
• Fictional genies
• Male actors from Anchorage, Alaska
• Male actors from Colorado
• Screenwriters from Alaska

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