Benji Gregory, star of the late 1980s family comedy “ALF,” died last month in Arizona. He was 46.
His official cause of death was still pending Wednesday night, according to the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office.
Earlier in the day, his sister confirmed his death to the New York Times, saying in a Facebook post that Gregory died of “vehicular heat stroke” in a Chase Bank parking lot in Peoria, Arizona.
“It is with great sadness that my family has suffered a loss too soon,” his sister wrote. “My brother Ben was found in his car, along with his beloved service dog Hans, who passed away on June 13.”
She said it appeared he had fallen asleep in the car after driving to the bank on June 12 to deposit residual checks.
“Ben was a great son, brother and uncle,” Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger continued. “He was fun to be around and made us laugh often. Still, when I look at his stuff, I find myself laughing at little videos or notes from him, through tears.”
Hertzberg-Pfaffinger also told the New York Times that her brother had lived with bipolar disorder and depression and had received treatment for both.
In the latter half of the 1980s, Gregory rose to fame playing Brian Tanner on a show about a family who adopt a furry alien life form, ALF, after his spaceship crashes into their house.
The California native also appeared in dozens of commercials and guest-starred on hit shows like “The A-Team,” “The Twilight Zone” and “TJ Hooker.” According to IMDb, Gregory then enlisted in the U.S. Navy and became an airbrusher’s mate.
