Anne Schedeen, Best Known as Kate Tanner on 'ALF,' Dies at 77

American actress Anne Schedeen, who played Kate Tanner on the hit sitcom "ALF," has died at the age of 77. Her family announced her death on Facebook but did not say what caused it.

Schedeen was born Luann Ruth Schedeen in Portland, Oregon, in January 1949. She began acting in the 1970s and appeared in a long list of popular television shows, including "Three's Company," "Magnum," "Murder, She Wrote" and "Cheers."

Her major breakthrough came in 1986, when she was cast as Kate Tanner, the family matriarch on "ALF." The NBC comedy ran for four seasons through 1990 and centered on an American family hiding an alien from the planet Melmac in their home. It became one of the defining comedies of the 1980s. Schedeen appeared in all 102 episodes and gained wide international recognition.

After "ALF" ended, she continued working in television and film, but with a smaller workload. One of her later roles was a recurring part on "Family Law" in the early 2000s. She gradually withdrew from the spotlight. Her death adds to the losses of other "ALF" cast and crew members over the years, including Max Wright in 2019 and Benji Gregory in 2024.