Benji Gregory, ‘Alf’ Child Star, Dies at 46

Benji Gregory in ‘Alf’

Alien Productions/courtesy Everett Collection

Benji Gregory, the former child star known for his role in 1980s sitcom Alf, has died. He was 46.

Gregory’s sister, Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger, told the New York Times that the actor and his service dog, Hans, were both found dead in his car on June 13 in a parking lot in Peoria, Arizona. Though the cause of death is still pending, Hertzberg-Pfaffinger wrote in a Facebook post she believes her brother fell asleep in the car and died of heatstroke.

Alf, which ran for four seasons from 1986 to 1990, saw Gregory as one of two children in the Tanner family who became best friends with Alf, an Alien Life Form who crash-landed through their garage. Max Wright and Anne Schedeen played the boy’s parents, and Andrea Elson his sister.

Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg was born May 26, 1978 in Encino. Per IMDB, his father, uncle and sister were all actors, and his grandmother was his agent. Alongside his child stardom on Alf, he also appeared in many commercials and in 1980s shows such as The Twilight Zone, The A-Team, Punky Brewster and Amazing Stories. In 1986, he appeared as Harry Carlson Jr. in Jumpin’ Jack Flash, which also starred Whoopi Goldberg, and played Edgar the mole in the 1993 animated movie, Once Upon a Forest.

He later left Hollywood and in 2004 became an aerographer’s mate for the U.S. Navy stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, per IMDB. His sister told NYT he lived with bipolar disorder and depression, and received care for both.