To What Is He Pertaining?

Does Bronson Pinchot really owe his success to a lemon twist and a crazy accent?  When the man who practically steals the scenes in Beverly Hills Cop from Eddie Murphy walked into his tiny role as the fey art-gallery assistant, Serge, it didn't much resemble the hilarious outcome.  But director Martin Brest gave the actor near carte blanche, telling him, "Just wail!  Do something with a lemon twist."  Pinchot invented his little espresso routine, basing his vaguely Middle Eastern accent on an Israeli makeup artist he'd worked with on a low-budget film.  Speaking of low budgets, he says, "I hardly made any money for Beverly Hills Cop.  The movie made millions - I made $2500."

Pinchot, 25, is not an entirely new face.  He was Barry the bookkeeper in Risky Business and Alfred in The Flamingo Kid.  His next gig is Dennis, a young lawyer on NBC's sitcom Sara - who just happens to be gay.  But the flamboyant Pinchot (who went to Yale on a scholarship) isn't worried about getting typed.  "I grew up on welfare.  If you only have one shirt till you're twenty, and somebody says they'll put you in a TV series, you don't care if you play gay, transvestite or anything!"