He also hosted a daily radio program called A Word on Wine on Los Angeles’ KFAC station.

After covering the coronation of Norodom Suramarit in March 1955, he was invited to stay for twelve days at the Wat Phrachumsagar temple in Cambodia, where he was ordained by Buddhist monk Bhante Dharmawara.

He reported on Zen and the 101-year-old abbot of Hōkō-ji (Shizuoka), Shizan, in an effort to present a positive image of Japan.

Balzer also played a role in overseeing the food and wine arrangements for the presidential inaugurations of Ronald Reagan in 1981 and 1985, and for George H. W. Bush in 1989.

He had friendships with several notable Hollywood figures, including Cecil B. DeMille, Alfred Hitchcock, Marlon Brando, Ingrid Bergman, Olivia De Havilland, and Gloria Swanson.