Benji Gregory, famous for his role as Brian Tanner in ALF, passed away on June 13 at 46 years old.
The Arizona medical examiner has now revealed that Gregory’s death was due to “heat exposure in the setting of hepatic cirrhosis,” according to TMZ. This essentially means that he succumbed to the hot Arizona sun combined with severe liver scarring.
Gregory was discovered in his parked car at a Chase Bank in Peoria, Arizona. It’s believed he went to the bank on June 12 and fell asleep there. Tragically, his service dog Hans also died. His sister mentioned that Gregory struggled with depression, bipolar disorder, and a sleep disorder that kept him awake for days.
We can’t help but feel saddened by this news.
Benji rose to fame playing Brian on ALF, which ran for four seasons from 1986 to 1990 on NBC. The show even had four special episodes: “Try to Remember,” “ALF’s Special Christmas,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and “Tonight, Tonight.”
His career didn’t stop there. He appeared on shows like Fantastic Max, Pound Puppies, Murphy Brown, Fantasy Island, The A-Team, T.J. Hooker, Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone, and Mr. Boogedy. He also had a recurring role on Punky Brewster as Dash the orphan.
In movies, Gregory was in the 1986 film Jumpin’ Jack Flash with Whoopi Goldberg and lent his voice to Edgar the Mole in the animated movie Once Upon a Forest.
