Cause of death of Benji Gregory announced

Cause of death known for former ALF Child star Benji Gregory. The actor was found dead in his car in a Chase Bank parking lot in Peoria, Arizona, on June 13, along with his service dog Hans.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner concluded that Gregory died from heat exposure due to liver cirrhosis. His death was ruled an accident.

Gregory played middle son Brian Tanner in more than 100 episodes of ALF, which aired from 1986 to 1990. It followed the earthly adventures of a furry alien from the planet Melmac who crashes his spaceship into the Tanners' garage. Nicknamed ALF (for Alien Life Form) and voiced by Paul Fusco, the creature often made jokes about human customs and was a cat lover – although not in the usual sense.

Gregory was born on May 26, 1978 in a suburb of Los Angeles. He began his television career at a young age with guest roles in the mid-80s, including in The A-Team, TJ Hooker, Punky Brewster, Twilight Zone – The Hidden World and Steven Spielberg's Incredible stories.

While ALF's run, he also voiced a character on The fantastic Max and later he voiced Biff Tannen Jr. in the animated series Back to the future. He also appeared in a 1991 episode Murphy Brown and had a small role in the 1986 spy comedy directed by Penny Marshall Jumpin' Jack Flash, starring Whoopi Goldberg. He also appeared in commercials for companies such as McDonald's and others.

Gregory left the entertainment industry in 2003 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy, where he later served as an aerographer's mate. He was honorably discharged from the Navy for medical reasons in 2005.

Greg Evans and Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.