Do you remember Balki and Larry? Then you must have been a fan of the ’80s-’90s hit ABC sitcom Perfect Strangers where they are distant cousins from different worlds. Today, its all about one of the pair, the heavily accented, wacky immigrant, Balki Bartokomous who was portrayed by Bronson Pinchot.
Pinchot established his presence in the entertainment industry with the sitcom and had other successful ventures on its heels including his role as Serge in Beverly Hills Cop. In 2012, he launched his reality show, The Bronson Pinchot Project on the DIY Network where he takes his audience through his process as a home-restoration specialist in Harford. He has also worked as an audiobook narrator, with over 100 recordings as of 2014, and has many awards to attend to his efforts.
Besides these givens, there are many other facts to know about Bronson Pinchot such as his wife and what he is up to now. Find out in this piece.
Bronson Pinchot Biography
He was born on the 20th day of May 1959 in Manhattan, New York and named Bronson Alcott Pinchot. He has a younger brother, Justin who is also an actor with whom he grew up in Pasadena, Southern California. His parents are Rosina (née Asta), an Italian American and a typist, and his father was Henry, a bookbinder. Henry was originally Poncharavsky and of Russian descent.
He attended the South Pasadena High School where he showed stellar academic abilities. Pinchot became the class valedictorian and in turn, received a full scholarship to Yale University, where he launched his acting career. While acting in a college play, he was scouted by a casting director which led to his successful transition into professional acting. Pinchot graduated magna cum laude in 1981 form Morse College where he studied Fine Art.
His first film was the comedy Risky Business (1983) which also starred Tom Cruise and Rebeca De Mornay. In 1984, he appeared in The Flamingo Kid and in Beverly Hills Cop as Serge, alongside Eddie Murphy. He played Dennis Kemper in the short-lived NBC sitcom Sara and with his odd accent and eccentric style, hitched the role of Balki in Perfect Strangers (1986-1993).
After Perfect Strangers wrapped up, Pinchot was cast in a new CBS sitcom CBS, The Trouble with Larry (1993), where he only stayed for seven episodes. However, the show wasn’t as lucky as Strangers as it was cancelled after three weeks as a result of bad ratings and poor review.
Following up, he was cast in Step By Step and Meego in 1997 and also featured in several other big and small screen projects. Although his success on TV did not rub off as easily on his films, he still had major success therein including True Romance (1993), Beverly Hills Cop III (1994), Courage Under Fire and The First Wives Club in 1996.
Pinchot continued to receive casting offers on television including in talk shows where he has proven to be witty and erudite, a far cry from the manic bizarrely-turned characters he often plays. He appeared in Stephen King‘s The Langoliers in 1995 as Craig Toomey. Moreover, he acts on stage and has a number of works to his credit. He debuted on Broadway in 1990 with Zoya’s Apartment and in 1999, he appeared alongside John Barrowman in Putting It Together. Other of his theatre credits include 2004’s revival of Sly Fox with Richard Dreyfuss.
Pinchot’s Other Works
Bronson Pinchot is indeed a man of many talents which he interestingly narrowed down to making old houses beautiful and making people laugh.
The 5′ 9″ entertainer does not only act, but he has also lent his voice to animations as well as commercials. Bronson Pinchot was the voice of General Armando Castrato in the 1996 animated series Bruno the Kid and also Max, the refurbished Black 1964 bug in the Volkswagen 2009 Das Auto campaign. He also narrates audiobooks using various accents mostly western European including English, Irish, Scottish and German.
In 2008, he narrated The Learners by Chip Kidd and between 2009 and 2014, he narrated more than 100 books which earned him several Audie Awards. Some of the books include novels Matterhorn, Blood Oath, Spellbound, Hard Magic, Red, White, and Blood. He was recognized as Best Voice in Fiction & Classics by AudioFile magazine in 2010 and was chosen by Audible.com as their Narrator of the Year in 2010.
In 2012, Bronson Pinchot moved away from the spotlights of Hollywood to Harford, a village in Pennsylvania where he put his passion – revamping old houses – to work. He documents the process, using salvaged materials to restore old homes including the six properties he bought in the town with the hope that he would revive the aesthetics of the 19th-century town on his reality TV show, The Bronson Pinchot Project on DIY Network.
Is Bronson Pinchot Gay or Married to a Wife?
After Bronson Pinchot played the gay hotelier in his Beverley Hills Cop stealer scene, the title seemed to follow him for some time beside establishing him as one of the best actors in the industry. Added to his role, he was accused of being gay by the media, although he moved with many women, he never confirmed any relationships.
However, one of the women who stood out in his life was American film director Amy Heckerling who wrote and produced the 1995 American teen sitcom Clueless. The duo reportedly dated for four years and was engaged to be married before they broke up. He was also linked to actress Marcy Walker from 1984 to 1985.
Pinchot has never been married and is likely not dating anyone.
Where Is Bronson Pinchot Now?
Pinchot is still very much around in Tinsel town and active in his career. He was cast in a recurring role as George Hawthorne, Baxter High’s villainous and prudish principal in the Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina opposite Kiernan Shipka. The series premiered in October 2018. He could have other projects up his sleeves which we would definitely get to know of soon.
