Anne Schedeen, beloved as Kate Tanner on ALF, has died today at 77 🕊️
Schedeen was best known for playing the grounded, no-nonsense mother of the Tanner family on NBC’s ALF, the hit sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1990 and followed a sarcastic alien living with a suburban California family after crash-landing in their garage.
Her family announced that she passed peacefully, remembering her for her creative energy, sharp humor, love of family, rescue dogs, thrift shopping, handmade art, and storytelling. A cause of death was not revealed.
Born Luanne Ruth Schedeen in Portland, Oregon, she began acting as a child and later built a long television career with appearances on The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Emergency!, Cheers, Magnum P.I., Murder, She Wrote, and Judging Amy.
For many fans, though, she will always be Kate Tanner, the patient but firm heart of a chaotic TV household built around one of the most memorable sitcom aliens of the ’80s.
Rest in peace, Anne Schedeen 🕯️