By Joe Puccio
Although the above lyrics to Perfect Strangers were admittedly very likely penned with Bronson Pinchot’s Balki Bartokomous and Mark Linn-Baker’s Larry Appleton in mind, they are also quite appropriate for Rebeca Arthur, who portrayed Mary Anne Spencer, Balki’s love interest on the popular ABC situation comedy.
“I always had this vision that all actresses in California were tall, blond, and beautiful,” Arthur observed, in a recent chat with Generation X Wire. “I just felt like there was no place for me.”
While Arthur’s apparent opinion of herself was certainly misguided, the attractive, golden-haired performer’s journey to the beloved role was an arduous one. Raised by a single mother in a small town in western Maryland following her father’s death when she was just a baby, she always had the desire to pursue a career in show business. An inevitable move to New York City saw her both enroll at New York University, as well as join an acting school, where the young ingenue learned the craft that would eventually support her. But small screen success was not immediate.
“I answered an ad in a newspaper and wound up working for a private investigator,” Arthur shared. “Initially, he wouldn’t hire me because he said I was too young and thought I would just turn around and become an actress, ironically. But I was really curious and even said I would work for free,” she laughed. The relationship proved to be fruitful for both her and her soon-to-be boss as she worked in his office for three years and became so close with both him and his family that he ultimately walked her down the aisle at her wedding in 1996. “Unfortunately, he and his wife have passed but I’m still very close to his daughter, which I’m so grateful for.”
Sporadic minor parts in soap operas, theater productions, and commercials motivated Arthur to finally give Hollywood a shot, a decision which surprisingly saw her get cast in her very first Los Angeles audition at The Studios at Paramount. “Back then, before GPS, we used Thomas Guides, which were detailed street maps of major cities. It was dark out and I drove about 45 minutes from the airport to Paramount – and wound up at a Jewish cemetery,” Arthur recalled. “I saw a sign that read “Rabbi on Premises” and actually didn’t think anything of it since there were a lot of Jewish people in show business so it would make sense that there would be a rabbi on the lot. I finally caught on that I was in the wrong place,” she giggled.
Thankfully, Arthur got back in her car, found the address, completed her tryout – and by the time she arrived back at her apartment, had already received word that she impressed the agents enough to warrant a callback, which resulted in landing the job. Sadly, however, the project, titled Anything for Love, was a flop. “It was an NBC pilot with Vicki Lawrence, Lauren Tewes, Marsha Warfield, and a young Joaquin Phoenix, who was known as Leaf back then,” she remembered. Despite a fun, albeit brief, experience filming the show, it failed to garner much support from the network – and also faced some stiff competition. “It came down to us and The Golden Girls and we all know how that went,” she smiled.
Even though Arthur’s initial West Coast foray into television didn’t pan out as she had hoped, it taught her something very valuable about herself – she was funny. “I really thought I bombed the audition because everyone was laughing at me,” she admitted. “My agent had to tell me to calm down and that they were laughing with me because it was a comedy. I was freaking out at first!”
When the opportunity to appear in Perfect Strangers came along, the role of Mary Ann was originally written as a one-episode guest spot. But Arthur’s impeccable comedic timing, along with her undeniable chemistry with Pinchot, set the wheels in motion for what would turn out to be nearly 100 episodes of the revered sitcom. The addition of best friend Jennifer Lyons, played by the adorable Melanie Wilson, as Larry’s girlfriend, solidified the series as a force to be reckoned with, especially once it became the anchor for ABC’s original TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Funny) Friday-night lineup in 1988.
“The funny thing is I had seen one of Mark and Bronson’s promos for the show before I was cast and I thought there was no way it would last,” she joked. “Little did I know. The show would get picked up for two seasons each time, which was wonderful. And we’d shoot about 24 episodes each season so we were always busy. Nowadays, I get so frustrated watching these Netflix shows with eight episodes if you’re lucky – they’re so lazy,” she kidded.
The ability for a TV series to survive past even a single season cannot be overstated. Perfect Strangers, which ran for a whopping eight seasons, achieved the difficult accomplishment through witty writing, riotous plots, and, naturally, the strength of its players. Arthur has nothing but fond memories from her time on the show, which incredibly concluded more than 30 years ago.
“Mark is so funny and talented. He would be so quiet on the set and then the second we’d begin shooting, it all just came out of him. He was hilarious,” Arthur insisted. “I love him dearly and he’ll forever hold a special place in my heart.”
Alternatively, Pinchot’s rambunctious personality was a stark contrast to Linn-Baker’s. “He had so much energy. It was like working with a crazy toddler,” she jested. “Mark would just watch him and let him run his course.
As for Arthur’s connection with Wilson, the two are close to this day. “We’re still best friends and we talk all the time,” Arthur assured. “I love Melanie.”
Despite being off the air since 1993, Perfect Strangers, which also spun off the equally successful Family Matters, has experienced a resurgence in recent years, exposing the quirky farce about an unassuming American photographer living with his unorthodox distant cousin from the fictional Mediterranean island named Mypos, to a whole new generation of fans. Modern odes from programs such as the 1980s-themed The Goldbergs, the Emmy/Golden Globe award-winning Master of None, the critically-acclaimed HBO supernatural thriller The Leftovers, and even the still-in-production smash Hulu hit Only Murders in the Building, which paid homage to the highly respected classic series earlier this year, have turned television viewers who may not have even been born when the show premiered, onto the show.
The latter tribute by OMITB even caught Arthur by surprise. “My husband and I were watching the latest episode a few months ago,” she exclaimed. “All of a sudden, the Perfect Strangers theme started playing. We immediately looked at each other and I was like, ‘Hey, I know that song!’”
After 29 years, Arthur found herself in front of a live audience again, performing a play reading at a benefit for the Cumberland Theatre in her home state of Maryland. “It was a lot of fun and I still love doing it,” she conceded. “Theater was always my first love. My brother and a whole group of gals who I grew up with surprised me by coming to see me so that was so nice too. If the right opportunity came along, I wouldn’t rule out doing something else in the future.”
And could we even see one of Arthur’s daughters on screen one day? “Honestly, I just don’t know. My oldest, Stella, is an artist who studied entertainment design and is doing so well,” Arthur gushed. “Lena works in the legal department at Disney but she used to be interested in acting and actually did a short film in high school. When I mentioned to her that she already had an IMDB page because of that, she momentarily froze, worrying that she’d potentially be known as a nepo baby,” she chuckled. “I said there’s absolutely no chance of that happening, honey.”
As for the possibility of a Perfect Strangers reboot, while it doesn’t seem likely that the “Dance of Joy” will be sprung into our living rooms again, Arthur is more than content with the happiness the sitcom continues to bring to viewers, both young and old. “We really had a great time doing it,” she opined. “It was an amazing experience.”
*”Nothing’s Gonna Stop Me Now” written by Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay
Generation X Wire 