Benji Gregory, the child actor who starred in the 1980s comedy “ALF,” has died at age 46, according to his sister.
Gregory was found dead, along with his service dog, in his car on June 13, his sister Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger wrote on Facebook.
His vehicle was in a bank parking lot in Peoria, Arizona, New York Times reported. Hertzberg-Pfaffinger said the family believes he went there the night of June 12 to deposit some residual checks found in his vehicle, but “never got out of the car to do so.”
“He fell asleep and died of vehicular heatstroke,” she wrote.
At the time, Arizona was in the midst of a heat wave with a high of 108 recorded on the 12th and 111 recorded on the 13th, according to AccuWeather.
“Ben was a great son, brother and uncle. He was fun to be around and made us laugh often. Even so, going through his things, I find myself laughing at his little videos or notes, between tears,” his sister wrote.
Maricopa County medical examiner records show he died June 13, but the manner of death and primary cause of death are pending.
Gregory was known for playing the brilliant Brian Tanner on “ALF,” which aired from 1986 to 1990. The show followed the story of a furry alien named Alf — short for “Alien Life Form” — from the planet Melmac, who crash-landed in the Tanner family garage in California and was welcomed by the family.
Gregory was born Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg in Encino, California on May 26, 1978, according to his IMDb profile. He grew up in front of the camera appearing in commercials and guest-starring on shows such as “The A-Team” and “The Twilight Zone,” and appeared in films such as the 1986 film “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” with Whoopi Goldberg and the film 1991 “Never Forget”.
However, he stopped acting in the late 1990s. He joined the U.S. Navy serving at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, his IMDb profile said.
His sister told the Times that he lived with bipolar disorder and depression and received care for both.
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