Benji Gregory, child star of “ALF”, dies from heatstroke at 46

He played Brian Tanner across four seasons of the hit suburban sitcom.

Benji Gregory, who rose to fame as the child star of ALF, has died. He was 46.

His sister, Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger, told the New York Times that Gregory and his service dog were both found dead in his car in a bank parking lot on June 13 in Peoria, Ariz. She also confirmed the news in a July 10 post to her brother's Facebook page.

“It is with a heavy heart my family has suffered a loss way too early,” Hertzberg-Pfaffinger wrote alongside photos of her brother. “Ben was a great Son, Brother and Uncle. He was fun to be around and made us laugh quite often. Still, going through his things, I find myself laughing at little videos or notes of his, in between crying.”

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After explaining that Gregory was found in the bank parking lot, she continued, “We believe he went there the evening of the 12th to deposit some residuals and never got out of the car to do so. He fell asleep and died from vehicular heatstroke.”

Hertzberg-Pfaffinger noted that her brother lived with bipolar disorder and depression and received care for both.

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Born Benjamin Hertzberg on May 26, 1978 in Los Angeles, Calif., Gregory quickly became a busy child actor after beginning his stint on the hit series at age 8. He rose to fame playing Brian Tanner across 101 episodes of ALF, which premiered in 1986. The NBC sitcom, which ran for four seasons, followed the titular ALF — an acronym for Alien Life Form — who crash lands into the garage of a suburban family.

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Though Gregory is best recognized for his role as Brian, he took several other acting gigs during the ‘80s and ‘90s, in shows including The Twilight Zone, The A-Team, T.J. Hooker, Fantasy Island and Murphy Brown. He made several appearances as an orphan named Dash in Punky Brewster and reprised the role for the pilot of a spin-off series, Fenster Hall, that was not picked up. Gregory also appeared in Whoopi Goldberg’s 1986 spy comedy, Jumpin' Jack Flash.

Gregory did voice-over work as well, appearing on Pound Puppies and Fantastic Max. He provided the voice of Biff Jr. in the animated Back to the Future TV series and earned his final credit with a voice role in 1993’s Once Upon a Forest.

Gregory left Hollywood after his early acting career. After graduating from college, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and graduated to become an aerographer’s mate, specializing in meteorology and oceanography. 

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