Associated Press
PHOENIX — Former child actor Benji Gregory, who played the young son on the 1980s television sitcom “ALF,” has died in suburban Phoenix. He was 46.
Gregory, whose legal name was Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg, died on June 13, according to records from the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner. The cause of his death is pending.
“ALF” starred Andrea Elson, clockwise from top left, Anne Schedeen, Max Wright and Benji Gregory. The sitcom ran on NBC from 1986 to 1990. (United Archives Imago/ZUMA Press/TNS)
Gregory’s sister, Rebecca Pfaffinger, told The New York Times that her brother’s body was found in his car in the parking lot of a bank in Peoria, outside Phoenix. He apparently had gone there to deposit some residual checks, she said. His dog Hans also died in the vehicle.
Because the cause of death is still being investigated, it is unknown whether Arizona’s summer heat played a role. The high temperature in metro Phoenix hit 108 degrees Fahrenheit the day of Gregory’s death, according to National Weather Service records.
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Gregory was 8 when he gained fame playing Brian Tanner on the NBC show about a family that took in “ALF” — a hairy alien life form — after the creature’s spaceship crashed. He also appeared in commercials and other TV shows, including “The A-Team” and “Fantasy Island.”
As an adult, Gregory enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became an aerographer’s mate, tracking the weather for aviation and nautical safety, according to the entertainment database IMDb,
There was no word on additional survivors or a memorial service.
