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'Not Making This Up': Bronson Pinchot Reveals Winnie And Nelson Mandela Were Fans Of Perfect Strangers
Bronson Pinchot recently shared a touching story about Nelson Mandela's admiration for Perfect Strangers. Despite his fame, Pinchot revealed his complicated relationship with the spotlight and more!
Perfect Strangers star Bronson Pinchot recently shared an incredible story about the show's global impact. One of the most famous fans of the comedy featuring Pinchot's character, Balki Bartokomous, was Nelson Mandela and his then-wife Winnie Mandela. Winnie Mandela expressed her admiration directly to Pinchot at a banquet in South Africa. Despite his recent appearance in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Pinchot has always had a complicated relationship with the spotlight.
Perfect Strangers left a lasting impression on the world
According to the star of the 1986-1993 comedy, Nelson Mandela and Winnie Mandela, the late South African president and his wife, enjoyed the sitcom about Balki Bartokomous (played by Pinchot), who moves in with his distant cousin Larry (Mark Linn-Baker) in Chicago after relocating from the fictional island of Mypos.
"At the height of the show's popularity, anti-apartheid activists conveyed their admiration to me at a banquet in South Africa," recalls Pinchot, 65. "I'm not making this up. I was at this big dinner and suddenly I get embraced from behind, like your long-lost relative. I turn around and it's Winnie Mandela. She said, ‘If you only knew how much we love Balki here.’”
As Pinchot recounted, he was surprised and sat down to eat in the gigantic room. During the meal, an assistant presented a note from Nelson Mandela. In the note, Mandela explained that while he couldn't visit every table individually, he wanted Pinchot to know he recognized his "cousin" was present. This poignant moment moved Pinchot to emotion, his voice cracking as he remembered it.
Bronson Pinchot reflects on fame and fan encounters
While Bronson Pinchot enjoyed moments like those, he wasn't always comfortable with attention from fans. Pinchot made his acting debut in 1984's Beverly Hills Cop as the flamboyant gallery worker Serge.
Following the movie premiere, he was walking near his Los Angeles apartment when a car full of teenagers accosted him. “They jumped out and started to make a fuss,” he recalls. I went from poverty to seeing people driving up on the sidewalk. I wasn't prepared. Who's ready for that? At times, it was downright terrifying.”
In Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, Pinchot reprises the role of Serge, but he doesn't actively seek out the spotlight. It took some prodding from his team to convince Pinchot to attend the Los Angeles premiere on June 20. "My manager sent me covertly threatening emails and texts telling me I would be on the red carpet," Pinchot jokes.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is now streaming on Netflix.
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