Anne Schedeen, the actress best known to ’80s kids for playing Kate Tanner on ALF, has passed away. Schedeen’s family revealed news of her death, confirming on Schedeen’s official page that she passed away, encouraging fans to “Raise a margarita in her honor.”
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“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share Annie has passed peacefully,” the post reads. “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.”
ALF Star Anne Schedeen Passed Away
Born January 8, 1949, in Portland, Oregon, Anne Schedeen moved to New York City to pursue her acting career, appearing in TV shows and TV movies across the 1970s. One of her biggest roles at the time was a recurring character on Emergency!, followed by an appearance on Marcus Welby, M.D. and Three’s Company. She would appear in projects with some high-profile co-stars, though, including the TV movie Exo-Man with José Ferrer, Never Say Never with George Kennedy, and Braker with Carl Weathers.
Before Alf, Schedeen had multiple single-episode appearances in a slew of TV shows across the ’70s and ’80s, including The Six Million Dollar Man, The Incredible Hulk, Baretta, The Bionic Woman, Magnum, P.I., Murder, She Wrote, and even Cheers.
In 1989, though, everything changed when Schedeen auditioned for a new sitcom about an alien life form that moves in with a human family and the antics that develop. Schedeen landed the role of Kate Tanner, the mom of the family who doesn’t always love the issues that arise from having an alien live in the house.
“When ‘ALF’ came along it was another pilot season,” Schedeen told The Washington Post back in 1988. “I kept reading scripts. I almost got involved with one, then withdrew at the last minute. Then I read ‘ALF.’ I said, ‘This is funny. It makes me laugh.’ I met the people involved, I met ALF, and became more convinced I wanted to do it. That little alien made me laugh.”
Time, however, would tell a slightly different story, with the cast for Alf, including Schedeen, once telling People Magazine that the series was a “technical nightmare, extremely slow, hot and tedious.” As fans may recall, Alf the series ended on a major cliffhanger, only resolved years later without the original stars returning to reprise their roles. After Alf, Schedeen continued to work in television.
Schedeen is survived by her husband of 55 years Christopher Barrett; daughter, Taylor Barrett; daughter-in-law, Hilary Flynn; sister, Sarabeth Schedeen; niece, Minnie Schedeen; brother, Roland “Tony” Schedeen; sister-in-law, Julieann Schedeen; and her beloved rescue dogs, Roo and Red.
(Cover Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
