Anne Schedeen, best known as Kate Tanner on 'ALF,' dies at 77

Anne Schedeen, the American actress best known for playing Kate Tanner on the sitcom "ALF," has died at 77. Her family announced her death on Monday morning and said the cause has not yet been disclosed. She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Christopher Barrett, and their daughter, Tay.

In a statement posted on her Facebook page, the family said Anne, whom they called "Annie," died peacefully. They described her as a "force of nature" with creative energy, sharp humor, a love of small dogs, secondhand shopping, handmade jewelry, oil painting, sculpture and costumes, and urged friends and fans to "raise a margarita" in her memory. The family added, "We are heartbroken without her," and said, "She always said, 'I'm always with you' and she was right."

Schedeen was born Luana Ruth in January 1949 in Portland, Oregon. She began her career on stage before moving into television and film, making her screen debut in a 1974 episode of "The Six Million Dollar Man." She later appeared in series including "McCloud," "The Bionic Woman," "Too Close for Comfort," "Amy Prentiss," and "Murder, She Wrote," as well as films such as "Trapped by Passion," "Exo-Man," and "Cast the First Stone."

Her signature role was Kate Tanner on "ALF," where she played the mother of the family hiding the witty alien from the planet Melmac. The sitcom ran for four seasons from 1986 to 1990 and became a defining late-1980s comedy, including in Israel, where it aired on Channel 1 and later on other channels. Schedeen’s former co-stars Max Wright, who played Willie Tanner, died in 2019 at 75 after a long battle with lymphoma, and Benji Gregory, who played Brian Tanner, died in 2024 at 46 from heatstroke after his body was found in a car outside a bank in Peoria, Arizona, alongside his service dog.