Anne Schedeen, the actress best known for playing loving suburban mom Kate Tanner on the hit sitcom ALF, has died at 77. Her family confirmed the news in a statement shared on Facebook, writing, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share Annie has passed peacefully.”
Before becoming a familiar face to millions of television viewers, Schedeen spent years building a steady career in Hollywood through guest spots and recurring roles. She appeared in popular series including The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Three’s Company, The Incredible Hulk, Emergency! and Starsky & Hutch.
Her career reached new heights in 1986 when she was cast as Kate Tanner in ALF, NBC’s quirky science-fiction family comedy. The show followed the Tanner family after they secretly take in a sarcastic, cat-loving alien named Gordon Shumway — better known as ALF (short for “Alien Life Form”) — after his spaceship crash-lands in their garage. The series blended traditional family sitcom humor with puppetry and science fiction, becoming one of television’s biggest hits and running for four seasons from 1986 to 1990.
As Kate Tanner, Schedeen played the patient and level-headed mother trying to keep her family’s extraordinary houseguest hidden from the outside world. Her warm, grounded performance helped anchor the often chaotic comedy and made her one of the show’s most beloved characters.
Years later, Schedeen reflected on the challenges of making the series, telling People that filming ALF was a “technical nightmare” because scenes involving the puppet required elaborate sets and multiple puppeteers. “If you had a scene with ALF, it took centuries,” she recalled, adding that a 30-minute episode could take as long as 20 to 25 hours to film.
Though ALF became her signature role, Schedeen’s decades-long television career and memorable portrayal of Kate Tanner secured her place in sitcom history. She remains fondly remembered by generations of fans who grew up watching the unconventional Tanner family and their wisecracking alien friend.
