| Bronson Pinchot | |
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Pinchot, September 1987 |
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| Born | Bronson Alcott Pinchot May 20, 1959 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1983–present |
Bronson Alcott Pinchot (born May 20, 1959) is an American actor. He has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop (and reprising his popular supporting role in Beverly Hills Cop III), The First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party. Pinchot is probably best known for his role in the ABC family sitcom Perfect Strangers as Balki Bartokomous from the (fictional) Greek-like island of Mypos.
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Pinchot was born Poncharavsky in New York City, New York, the son of Rosina (née Asta), a typist, and Henry Poncharavsky, a bookbinder.[1][2] His mother was Italian-American and his father, a Russian-American, who was born in New York and raised in Paris.[3][4][5] Pinchot was raised in southern California. After graduating from South Pasadena High School, where he was number one in his class and valedictorian, he went to Yale University on a full scholarship. He was placed in Morse College there and graduated magna cum laude. He began college studying fine art but became interested in acting when he won a role in a college play and was discovered by a casting director which resulted in a role in the feature film Risky Business.
During an episode of the $25,000 Pyramid, TV host Dick Clark asked Pinchot what type of work he had done prior to acting. Pinchot answered that he had worked for a company making leather souvenir key chains. When asked how long he did that, he replied "12 hours a day for a couple of years."
He retains an active interest in ancient Greek sculpture (460-31 BC). In December 2002, Pinchot became a Freemason.[6]
Since approximately 1999, Pinchot has spent a great deal of time in Harford, Pennsylvania, restoring the circa 1839 mansion of former Pennsylvania state Senator Edward Jones.[7] He has since purchased six properties in the small, rural town of 1,300[8] "in an effort to return the town to its 1800s appearance."[7]
Pinchot has a sister and two brothers, one of them being younger brother Justin Pinchot, who had a guest-starring role on the Perfect Strangers episode "It Had to Be You". Justin also stood-in for Bronson when performing a dual role on Perfect Strangers and in TV commercials, causing them to sometimes be misidentified as twins; however Justin is three years younger.
In the 1970s, Pinchot was an active member of The International Wizard of Oz Club, for which he organized the 1977 Winkie Convention and provided several illustrations for The Oz Calendar, copies of which fetch high prices at club auctions, due to his celebrity status.
Pinchot has appeared in several feature films, including Risky Business, Beverly Hills Cop (and reprising his popular supporting role in Beverly Hills Cop III), First Wives Club, True Romance, Courage Under Fire and It's My Party. His first appearance as an ongoing character on a network television series was on the short-lived 1985 NBC sitcom Sara, starring Geena Davis, in which he played the openly-gay Dennis Kemper.[9] Pinchot is probably best-known for his role in the ABC family sitcom Perfect Strangers (1986–1993) as Balki Bartokomous from the (fictional) Greek-like island of Mypos. Like his character in Beverly Hills Cop, Balki had a humorous foreign accent. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1987 for this role.
In August 1993, just weeks after the last new episodes of Perfect Strangers aired on ABC, Pinchot returned to prime-time network television as the star of the CBS sitcom The Trouble with Larry. Co-starring Perry King, Shanna Reed, and Courteney Cox (Friends), the show was generally panned by critics and canceled after just three weeks. One episode was directed by former Perfect Strangers co-star Mark Linn-Baker; however it never aired.
In 1994-1995, he guest-starred in two episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as The Prankster.
Pinchot was added to the ABC sitcom Step by Step in 1996, in part as a replacement for Sasha Mitchell, and remained on the show for the whole season. He played a character reminiscent of the character he played in the film Beverly Hills Cop. Pinchot then starred in the short-lived 1997 science fiction comedy Meego, which aired on CBS. He guest-starred in a first-season (1996) episode of the NBC sitcom 3rd Rock from the Sun, playing the younger brother of Dr. Mary Albright (Jane Curtin).
In 1998, he starred in the children's comedy film Slappy and the Stinkers, with B. D. Wong.
In 1999, Pinchot and Gailard Sartain played the nephews of the legendary Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, respectively, in the movie The All-New Adventures of Laurel and Hardy: For Love or Mummy (1999). Although the film, which co-starred Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham, was denied a theatrical release and premiered on video, Pinchot was praised for his deft impersonation of Stan Laurel.
Also in 1999, he displayed his versatility in the Stephen Sondheim revue Putting It Together, which he performed with Carol Burnett, George Hearn and John Barrowman.
In 2003, Pinchot voiced the eccentric school chef, Pepe, for the Nickelodeon series All Grown Up!.
From March 12 to August 15, 2004, Pinchot performed in the revival of Sly Fox on Broadway, opposite Richard Dreyfuss, Eric Stoltz, Rene Auberjonois, Peter Scolari, and others.
Pinchot guest starred on Law & Order: Criminal Intent season four, episode "Beast" in 2005.
Pinchot was a cast member on the fifth season of the VH1 series The Surreal Life, which premiered July 2005.
He guest-starred in the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Alternate" in 2007.
In March 2008, Pinchot appeared in six episodes of the CBS soap The Young And The Restless as Patrick Dalton.
2008 saw the release of Pinchot reading the novel The Learners in audio editions, author Chip Kidd's followup to The Cheese Monkeys. Pinchot was also the voice of Max, the fully restored Black 1964 VW Beetle in the 2009 Volkswagen "Das Auto" campaign.[10]
Bronson also guest starred November 8, 2010, on TV show remake Hawaii Five-0, as an art dealer operating a business for a drug dealer.
In 2010, Bronson read the audio version of the novels Matterhorn and Blood Oath.
In 2011 he appeared in the Shake It Up episode "Vatalihootsit It Up" as Gunther and Tinka's father.
In 2011 he appeared in The Problem Solverz voicing the character, Master Artificial Intelligence.
In 2011, Bronson read the audio version of the Novel The Alchemaster's Apprentice.
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