Anne Schedeen, Mother on 'ALF,' Dies at 77

Actress Anne Schedeen, best known for playing Kate Tanner, the mother on NBC’s sitcom ALF, has died at 77. Her family announced on social media that she “passed away peacefully,” but did not disclose the cause of death.

Schedeen began her television career in 1974 after signing with Universal Studios. Her first screen appearance came that year in an episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, and throughout the 1970s she appeared in guest roles on hit series including The Incredible Hulk, The Bionic Woman and McCloud. She also worked in film and television movies during that period.

In the early 1980s, she played Emily Phillips in the second season of Cheers and later portrayed lawyer Sarah Frank in the short-lived 1984 primetime drama Paper Dolls, alongside Lloyd Bridges and Lauren Hutton. Her signature role arrived in 1986 with ALF, a four-season NBC sitcom inspired by E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, about an alien from Melmac whose spaceship crashes into the Tanner family garage. The alien’s name, ALF, stood for Alien Life Form.

The series ran until 1990, ended because of budget problems, and became widely popular around the world, including in Israel. In a People interview, Schedeen said making the show was technically demanding, explaining that a half-hour episode took 20 to 25 hours to film and scenes with the puppet alien moved very slowly. After ALF ended, she kept acting in television through about 2014, including roles in Perry Mason, a recurring part on The Practice of Amy, and appearances on Murder, She Wrote, Three’s Company and Magnum. In summer 2024, ALF child actor Benji Gregory also died at 46, along with his service dog Hans.