Cause of death of “ALF” child star Benji Gregory announced

ALF The cause of death of star Benji Gregory has been confirmed.

The death of the child actor, who was found dead in his car in Peoria, Arizona, on June 13 at age 46, was ruled an accident by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner, according to records. The report states that Gregory “was exposed to environmental heat exposure associated with cirrhosis of the liver,” which led to his death.

Gregory's sister, Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger, first announced his death in a Facebook post on July 10. She said the family believes it was heat stroke because it was 108 degrees in Peoria on June 12.

“It is with a heavy heart that my family has suffered a loss far too soon,” she wrote of Gregory. “Ben was a great son, brother and uncle. He was fun to be around and made us laugh often. When I look through his things, I still laugh at little videos or notes from him and cry in between.”

“My brother Ben was found in his car along with his beloved service dog Hans, who died on June 13th,” she continued. “We believe he went there on the evening of the 12th to leave some residue. (Found in his car) and never got out of the car to do so. He fell asleep and died of heat stroke in the car.”

Hertzberg-Pfaffinger also told TMZ that at the time of his death, Gregory was suffering from depression, bipolar disorder, and a sleep disorder that kept him awake for days.

Gregory was best known for his role as Brian Tanner in over 100 episodes of ALF from 1986 to 1990. The series, created by puppeteers Paul Fusco and Tom Patchett, followed the show's namesake, “alien life form,” named Gordon Shumway, after he crashed into the Tanner family's suburban garage.

According to Warner Bros., a reboot was planned in 2018, but was cancelled later that year after a location could not be found for filming. Talks of a reboot resurfaced last February when Shout! Factory announced that it had acquired the rights to ALF with the intention of developing new related content.

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ALF can be streamed on Peacock and Amazon Prime.