When Bronson Pinchot began auditioning for Broadway roles, he told a director he refused to do accents. Years later, his ability to do accents is what gave him his first break in film, leading to a successful television career, as Balki Bartokomous, the odd cousin from a Balkan nation who comes to live with Mark Linn-Baker on the hit sitcom Perfect Strangers.

Pinchot was born in New York, raised in Pasadena, and attended Yale on a full scholarship, first being interested in art. It was there that he began to pursue acting. Cast in an off-Broadway play soon after his 1981 graduation, Pinchot was seen by a casting director and played one of Joel's poker playing friends in Risky Business and appeared the next year in The Flamingo Kid. Cast as an associate art dealer in Beverly Hills Cop, Pinchot stole his one real scene from Eddie Murphy. This role led to his being cast as Balki in Strangers, a show created to highlight his odd accent and eccentric style. No one could pin down the accent, but the series continued for seven seasons. He didn't fare as well in The Trouble with Larry, where he again played a visitor who comes to stay.

His small screen success did not translate as easily to the big screen. The box office flops Second Sight and Blame It on the Bellboy delayed his career a bit longer. It wasn't until his role in True Romance and his reprisal of Serge in Beverly Hills Cop III that his film success began. He appeared in Courage Under Fire and took a familiar comedic role in The First Wives Club as Duarte Feliz, a flamboyant interior designer.

Television has continued to offer Pinchot opportunities. In 1995, he appeared in Stephen King's The Langoliers. The following year, he joined the cast of Step by Step as the owner of a hair salon. Unlike the manic bizarrely turned characters Pinchot often plays, on TV talk shows he has proven to be witty and erudite. He first appeared on Broadway in 1990 in 'Zoya's Apartment,' a comedic play at the Circle in the Square theater. In 1999, He appeared with Carol Burnett and John Barrowman in 'Putting It Together,' and in 2004's revival 'Sly Fox,' with Richard Dreyfuss and Eric Stoltz. More recently, he continues to find roles in film and television, appearing on the 5th season of The Surreal Life.


Organized the 1975 International Wizard of Oz Club, Inc. Winkie Convention. Graduated from South Pasadena High School in 1977, where he excelled in French, theater and choir. His hobby is Greek sculpture (460 BC-31 BC). He claimed on "The Surreal Life" (2003) that he grew up in a very dysfunctional family.