“Alf” child star dies at 46
Benji Gregory, a child star who played Brian Tanner in the 1980s sitcom “Alf,” has died. He was 46.
According to online records from the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office in Arizona, which USA TODAY reviewed Wednesday, Gregory – full name Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg – died on June 13. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
His sister, Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger, told TMZ – which first broke the news – and the New York Times that she believes Gregory and his service dog, Hans, were found dead in his car, which he had parked in the parking lot of a bank in Peoria, a city northwest of Phoenix.
According to a Facebook post she shared on Wednesday, she believes he fell asleep and died of heat stroke.
“Ben was a great son, brother and uncle. He was fun to be around and often made us laugh,” wrote Hertzberg-Pfaffinger. “When I look through his things, I still laugh at little videos or notes from him, and occasionally I cry.”
Gregory portrayed Brian in all four seasons of the classic sitcom. Before this groundbreaking role, he appeared in episodes of series such as The A-Team, Punky Brewster and The Twilight Zone.
The NBC show, which aired from 1986 to 1990, featured Max Wright, Anne Schedeen, Andrea Elson and Fusco as the voice of Alf.
Remembering the popular sitcom “Alf”
Last year, Ryan Reynolds helped bring the alien back to life in a series of sponsored short films on his newly launched Maximum Effort Channel, which acquired the rights to the show and streams on platforms such as Tubi, Fubo and Amazon Freevee.
“Aside from my irrational love of Alf as a kid, one of the reasons we licensed this show was precisely because (‘Alf’ co-creator) Paul (Fusco), Shout! Studios and our intrepid brand partners wanted to plan with us to bring Alf back to life,” the “Deadpool” star said in a statement.
Michu Meszaros, the actor who wore an Alf costume in full-body shots of the furry brown puppet, died in 2016 at the age of 76.
Contributors: Edward Segarra
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