Tragic Details About ALF Child Star Benji Gregory's Death

On July 10, 2024 it was announced that child actor of ALF fame Benji Gregory died. He was 46. The announcement, made by his sister Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger on Facebook, described circumstances as horrible as they were unexpected. By all accounts Gregory apparently fell asleep in his car along with his dog Hans on June 12 during a trip to the bank. He was found dead the following day on June 13 having died from "vehicular heatstroke" — a risk most often facing children left alone in hot cars. It bears noting that this happened in Peoria, Arizona, which from June 12 through 13 endured temperatures hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and dipping to 75 around dawn.

As mentioned, Gregory came to public light through the relatively short-lived but much-beloved ALF, a well-mannered sitcom that ran from 1986 to 1990. Gregory played the kid of the cast, Brian Tanner, who befriended the cat-eating alien lifeform who lived with his family. After the show finished, Gregory did some other minor roles, including appearing in shows and movies as himself a few times, before moving away from acting by 1993.

In an interview with TMZ, Gregory's sister — who made the announcement about his death on Facebook — said that Gregory "suffered from depression, bipolar disorder and had a sleep disorder that often kept him awake for days." Hans, it turns out, was his service dog. While it stands to reason that Gregory's illnesses contributed to him falling asleep in his car, we can't say for certain. 

As Metis Digital outlines, Benji Gregory Hertzberg was born in 1978 to a family steeped in the entertainment industry to the point where his involvement in the arts was "almost inevitable." His mother was a talent agent and his father a stage actor, and young Gregory started popping up in commercials and TV shows. He showed up in ALF the role of Danny Tanner at the age of 8, and appeared in the show for all 103 episodes from 1986 until it went off the air in 1990. 

Judging by public support on Instagram, Benji Gregory remained in the hearts and minds of fans long after ALF finished some 34 years ago. "It's so sad ... Hope he may rest in peace. It feels so weird. Much too young to die," one user wrote. "Both rest in peace," another person wrote of a picture with Benji and his dog, Hans, who seemed like Benji's constant companion. Another fan said simply and sincerely, "RIP Benji and pug. I loved Alf as a kid." On Facebook, meanwhile, Benji Gregory's fan page moderator Adam Casto wrote, "I'm absolutely gutted. He was a dear friend to me." For her part, his sister Rebecca Hertzberg-Pfaffinger wrote in her Facebook death announcement, "Ben was a great Son, Brother and Uncle ... I find myself laughing at little videos or notes of his, in between crying."

For those wondering about the deadliness of remaining inside a hot car in the summer, Bag in the Back says that under direct sunlight, temperatures inside a car can rise 45 degrees Fahrenheit in an hour. The MIT Technology Review says that a person can die in 109-degree Fahrenheit weather at 50% humidity once "wet bulb temperature" is reached — a measure of how well the body can cool itself via sweat. At 0% humidity wet bulb temperature rises to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. But in the broiling summer heat of Arizona, the temperature inside a car could rise even beyond that number. And as the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warns, rolling down the windows doesn't really help all that much.

Even though Gregory's death appears completely accidental, TMZ reports that Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office has yet to issue a specific cause of death. Texas Health and Human Services explains that as soon as a body starts to succumb to heatstroke, organs begin shutting down. Heatstroke can cause dehydration, as well, although Medical News Today says that different people can live for longer in a dehydrated state. In other words, we can only conjecture so far about Gregory's specific cause of death, as it could have stemmed from any number or organ failures or related biological goings-on. 

There's no word yet on memorial services for Gregory, or if they already happened amongst his friends and loved ones.