Benji Gregory, who starred as a child in the 1980s comedy sitcom ALF, has died at the age of 46.
While the official cause of death is still pending, his family believes he died when he fell asleep inside his car on June 13 in Peoria, Ariz., and temperatures outside rose to almost 43 C.
His sister, Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger, shared in the Facebook post that Gregory was found dead alongside his service dog, Hans. She believes the two were visiting a bank to deposit some residuals but that Gregory fell asleep in the vehicle before he made it inside and died of heatstroke.
“Ben was a great Son, Brother and Uncle. He was fun to be around and made us laugh quite often,” she wrote in the post. “Still, going through his things, I find myself laughing at little videos or notes of his, in between crying.”
She told TMZ that her brother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression and had a sleep disorder that would keep him awake for days on end.
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Gregory starred as Brian Tanner in 101 episodes of ALF from 1986 to 1990, where he became on-screen best friends with the title character, a pointy-eared, sarcastic alien from the planet Melmac that arrived on Earth when he crash-landed through the Tanner family garage.
The family named their visitor ALF, short for Alien Life Form, and he eventually became part of the family while he learned about humans and caused all sorts of trouble.
Gregory was a fixture on ’80s television sets, with roles on The A-Team, T.J. Hooker and Punky Brewster. He also appeared in the 1986 movie Jumpin’ Jack Flash, alongside Whoopi Goldberg.
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