Today, we look at Rebeca Arthur (Mary Anne on Perfect Strangers) talking about her problems with Perfect Strangers star, Bronson Pinchot, including some shocking allegations about his conduct during the series.
This is Quite a Story, a sort of catch-all feature where I share short, interesting anecdotes from interviews or books that don’t really fit into any other feature.
Perfect Strangers was a star vehicle for Bronson Pinchot, whose Serge character was a standout part of the 1984 hit film, Beverly Hills Cop. ABC basically took the “foreign man” character that Pinchot did in that film, dropped the gay aspect of the character and gave him his own sitcom where he plays a man coming to America from the fictional island of Mypos. He moves to Chicago where he stays with his distant cousin, Larry Appleton (played by Mark Linn-Baker). The two are very different from each other (perfect strangers, you might even say). Melanie Wilson and Rebeca Arthur played Larry and Balki’s love interests, respectively, for most of the show (they eventually had a double wedding and even had kids at the same time).
Arthur talked to the very interesting Perfect Strangers Reviewed blog a couple of years ago and when Arthur was asked about her castmates, she spoke volumes in what she DIDN’T say. She explained to Casey (the person who runs the blog):
Melanie and I were, and still are, very close. She is one of my dearest friends. We leaned on each other through those years of standing behind a door waiting to knock and we are still leaning on each other in life! Mark is the consummate professional and just a doll. He’s a man of very few words but very quick to laugh and a pure delight to work with. If you can’t tell, I just love him. Sam Anderson is the sweetest guy and so funny! He could take anything and make pure comic gold out of it. I love when I see him pop up in films or TV. Belita Moreno is also hysterically funny and such a great gal. She got pregnant during season 3 or 4 and I remember they just kept hiding her behind stuff and she was a riot. Jo Marie [Payton, who was spun off into Family Matters] was also a hoot to work with could pull down a laugh with just a look. It’s really too bad they weren’t utilized more in the show because they always delivered brilliantly.
Sort of speaking volumes with who she DIDN’T mention, right?
However, Arthur then later DOES discuss Pinchot, and she explains why she didn’t talk about him while then making a shocking accusation about the actor:
If you have wondered why I haven’t said anything about Bronson, it’s because I adhere to the old adage that if you can’t say anything nice about someone then don’t say anything at all.
But the truth is there are some nice things I can say about him.
He was a true Jekyll/Hyde. In the beginning, he was so sweet and fun to work with but as we got further into the success of the show, he morphed into a monster. I was the one member of the cast that seemed to draw his wrath. It was quite the paradox living my dream of being on a sitcom but subjected to being sexually assaulted by him regularly. At the time, there was nothing I or anyone else could do about it. He held all the cards.
It’s fascinating that I haven’t seen anyone follow up on those accusations since 2020.
If you see any interesting anecdotes from interviews or books that you think would be worth spotlighting, drop me a line at brian@popculturereferences.com.
To be fair, when was the last time anyone mentioned Bronson Pinchot?
Yikes.
It’s so weird how sometimes these accounts comes out and then just don’t gain any traction at all.
Bronson practically retired from acting and now buys and sells houses in PA. He is not from a wealthy family and needs to work, Rebecca. Drugs , perhaps.
I saw Rebeca Arthur Golden bungee jump and do a circus act also on television. She is a gifted entertainer
He sexually assulted her? I thought he was a gay???
Yikes. It’s pretty bad when you get a giant head over being on a crappy show like Perfect Strangers.
My question is if Bronson is aware of what’s been said about him, why hasn’t anything come from him about it in return yet?
God bless him always!!!
Holly in east TN (a girl who will forever remain loyal to him)
If you don’t like the show Carolyn don’t watch it but don’t disrespect it at all or who worked it very unprofessional
I remember reading a comment somewhere by a person in The Business. He said that most actors become full of themselves after becoming successful and they only have a certain window of time to get over themselves and not be an AH for the rest of their lives.
I hope that Bronson has gotten over himself by now.
Not to belittle the actress’s (who played Marianne on “Perfect Strangers”) recollections and opinions, I must say that the eyes often give a truer impression of who a person really is than their actions. I’ve been in love with Bronson Pinchot for decades, (although I rarely got to see “PS” during the show’s initial run, while I was raising three kids who had other ideas about what shows were good to watch. I still haven’t forgiven them for making me waste hours of my life I’ll never get back on “Dukes of Hazard”). Now that they are grown (my kids, not the Dukes), with lives of their own (and the occasional “loan” from the First National Bank of Mom), I feel blessed to be able to binge on reruns of “Perfect Strangers” since returning from the rehabilitation hospital. (Sequence of no good, terrible, very bad events that would make a Russian playwright salivate: early Nov. 2022 I crashed my car; late Nov. ’22, my cat, Sugar Pie–my best friend–died; Dec. 1, ’22, my husband–the kids’ stepfather–died, having purposely left me penniless with the aid of his awful family; two weeks later I took a horrific plunge down the stairs, breaking my neck & nose, sustaining a massive concussion and spinal cord injury, and splitting my face open) My middle kid, Zebadiah, was visiting that day. Luckily(?) he was at the front door, waiting for me to unlock it, and heard the crash; he called 911, broke a window pane to unlock the door and come in and save me, holding me in his arms and holding the pieces of my face together in an effort to slow the bleeding I’d only started locking the door because the night my husband died his lazy grifter of a daughter came in and lied to me and stole from me. And I didn’t want a repeat performance of THAT.) The character of Balki –in the hands of consummate actor, vocalist, physical comedic actor, and sensitive delight is restoring my faith in humanity. Of course, I’m still madly in love with him, and would die happily on the spot if we were I ever to meet–or even speak or correspond. (He is actually too good-looking–read: adorable–
sweet, and talented to be real; but I’d be very disappointed to learn that he was a cyborg.) And in Mark Linn-Baker, he had the perfect foil to and participant in Balki’s delightful antics and adorable misunderstandings. Of course, the writing was exceptional, but without Bronson and Mark, and their abundant talent it would never have worked, at least not for 8 marvelous seasons. I have abandoned MSNBC and CNN to feast upon Perfect Strangers reruns (which heretofore would have been impossible for me, as I feel I MUST keep an eye on Donald Trump before he kills us all). And after reading about Bronson’s emotional struggles and recovery, I think there’s hope for me: after all that happened in those couple of months and my 2-month hospital stay, I am left lonely, anxiety-ridden, and fearful in a house I can no longer take care of by myself (constant pain, and would rather watch Perfect Strangers on FreeTV), and which I can’t afford to fix or keep up, help with–the yard, woods, and landscaping alone are beyond my current physical abilities. But if Bronson can regain his confidence and move forward so can I. I think. I hope.