Bronson kindly answered many questions sent from fans and you can see them all here!
Have you ever played a character that caused you to have an epiphany about yourself?
Bronson: I have noticed several times that I can cry my heart out in the guise of a character, for a misfortune that is fictional, but it is extremely rare that I can cry for my own misfortunes.
Q: What are you currently reading?
Bronson: Simultaneously: Janson’s History of Art; The Iliad; Bobby and Jackie: A Love Story; and Sculpture: Volume I.
Q: Do you and Mark get a chance to talk much anymore?
Bronson: In a wonderful way, Time stands still when it comes to Markie – meaning, if we go two years without talking, and then run into each other, we pick up mid-sentence, and howl with laughter like two brothers with a secret, which is what we are.
Q: Can you recommend any good history books or novels for someone just starting out?
Bronson: For someone just starting out, you can’t do better than Dickens’ Great Expectations. I jus t finished Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, also spectacular. Ultimately, you want to graduate to the two Everests of the novel form, which are The Odyssey and Les Miserables.
Q: Have you ever seen the Ancient Greek ruins at Bergama, Turkey?
Bronson: But of course! I am particularly partial to the sculpture of ancient Pergamum, and I went there with a friend who is an art historian. She took loads of pictures of me on the acropolis there, and when we had them developed in Kalkan, I was doing an errand, and she went to pick up her photos. The photo developer said to her, “Did you perhaps meet Bronson Pinchot on your travels?” and she laughed because I was about to pick her up at that photo shop any minute. Perfect Strangers played daily in Turkey at that time. It was a spectacular trip, we went all up and down the West Coast, and everyone there treated me like family, and called me their “Italian cousin.” I’ll never forget it! NEVER! I would go back in a second.
Q: Should the Elgin Marbles be returned to Greece?
Bronson: I would have to retire to a monastery and think about that one for years, eating only gruel and covered with an itchy animal skin.
Q: Shemp or Curly?
Bronson: See answer above.
Q: Who’s your favorite Greek mythology character?
Bronson: Athena; but She might object to being called “a character.”
Q: What did you think of the changes in Balki’s character toward the end of the series?
Bronson: Give me some specifics, and I’ll respond to them individually.
Q: Would you ever want do a Perfect Strangers reunion episode?
Bronson: Well of course I would, don’t be ridiculous!
Q: Do you still paint? Have you done anything recently?
Bronson: I don’t still paint, although I consider my houses my canvases. I doodle; and I will be illustrating the book with line drawings or watercolors.
Q: What books are on your nightstand? What books did you find truly life-altering?
Bronson: The Odyssey is either on the nightstand or never far. The Odyssey and Les Miserables were life-altering.
Q: What is currently your favourite song or piece of music?
Bronson: Hmmmm. I’m very fond of The Lady of Shallott by Loreena McKennitt. Parts of The Marriage of Figaro. Certain Irish folksongs.
Q: Dimitri saved Balki’s life from a runaway cart. Was this your idea, taken from Les Miserables with Dimitri being somewhat of a fleecy Jean Valjean?
Bronson: Can’t remember a thing about it. I’ll have to thank him when I see him.
Q: Who is your favourite character in Les Miserables and why?
Bronson: Sacrilege to pick!!!!!!