BREAKING: "Alf" Star Dies
A four-decade career across the biggest shows of her era comes to a close, remembered by a family "bereft without her"
Anne Schedeen, the actress who anchored four seasons of NBC’s ALF as no-nonsense matriarch Kate Tanner, has died at 77.
Deadline confirmed the actress died after her family announced Sunday that she “passed peacefully,” in a heartfelt tribute posted to her Facebook page. A cause of death was not immediately known.
The family’s tribute was as full of personality as the woman it described. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share Annie has passed peacefully,” the family wrote. “She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of creative energy, whip smart humor, delight in her family, adoration for little dogs, burning hatred for Trump, passion for second-hand thrifting, and love for a good story. We are bereft without her. We loved her so so much, as did all who met her.” They added: “She was a force. And it is unimaginable to think about life without her in it. But as she said, ‘I’m always with you.’ And she’s right.”
For anyone who grew up in the late 1980s, Kate Tanner was a fixture of Monday night television. ALF — short for “Alien Life Form” — ran for four seasons from 1986 to 1990 and centered on a wise-cracking furry alien named Gordon Shumway who crash-lands into the garage of the Tanner family, who hide him from the world. Schedeen played Kate Tanner, the family’s mother and frequently the exasperated straight woman to ALF’s chaos.
Schedeen’s career stretched well beyond Melmac. Born Luanne Ruth Schedeen, she made her onscreen debut in a 1974 episode of The Six Million Dollar Man, and went on to appear in McCloud, The Bionic Woman, Emergency!, The Incredible Hulk, Three’s Company, Cheers, Magnum P.I., Murder She Wrote, and Judging Amy, as well as films including Embryo (1976) and Second Thoughts (1983). Before ALF, she had a starring role as attorney Sara Frank on the short-lived prime-time soap Paper Dolls, opposite Lloyd Bridges and Lauren Hutton.
After Hollywood, she built a second creative life. Following ALF, Schedeen became a comedy coach and an interior designer — she reportedly did design work for celebrities including George Clooney — and served as an ambassador for Holiday Heroes, a charity that brings joy to hospitalized children.
Schedeen is survived by her husband of 55 years, Christopher Barrett; daughter Tay Barrett; daughter-in-law Hilary Flynn; sister Sarabeth Schedeen; niece Minnie Land; brother Roland “Tony” Schedeen; sister-in-law Julieanne Schedeen; and her rescue dogs Roo and Red.
Her passing marks another loss for the ALF cast. The show’s other child star, Benji Gregory, who played her on-screen son Brian, died in June 2024 at 46, and family patriarch Max Wright, who played Willie Tanner, died in 2019.
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