Actress Anne Schedeen, best known for playing matriarch Kate Tanner on the late-’80s sitcom ALF, has died. She was 77.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share Annie has passed peacefully,” reads a post on her official Facebook page. “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.”
“She was a force. And it is unimaginable to think about life without her in it,” the Facebook post continued. “But as she said, ‘I’m always with you.’ And she’s right. The memories, artwork, belly laughter, handmade jewelry, oil paintings, sculptures, costumes, and all around joie de vivre live on. Raise a margarita in her honor.”
Her agent, Tom Markley, also confirmed the news. A cause of death was not revealed.
Schedeen was born Luanne Ruth Schedeen on Jan. 8, 1949, and grew up on a farm outside of Portland, Ore. She once told The Washington Post that she started acting at age 6 “with teapots and flowers” and later took acting lessons at the Portland Civic Theater. She did local theater in Hawaii and studied at Portland State University and Fort Wright College in Spokane, Wash., before relocating to New York and taking a stab at acting professionally.
“It was a long wait. I sold clothes, modeled clothes, was a shoe model,” she said. “I played in summer stock and did a commercial. Then I got signed by a big agent. Within a month I had a contract with Universal. I thought I’d come out here, take fencing lessons, drive a small Thunderbird and sit by the swimming pool. Instead, I was the daughter on Marcus Welby, M.D.”
She landed roles in shows including Paper Dolls, Emergency! and Simon & Simon before ALF. Schedeen played Kate Tanner on the sitcom about a wisecracking alien who lands in the garage of a family who lives in suburban California and moves in with them. The series ran from September 1986 to March 1990 on NBC and spawned several spinoffs, including an animated show.
“When ALF came along it was another pilot season,” she says. “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.”
However, Schedeen later revealed to People Magazine that working on the show was a “technical nightmare — extremely slow, hot and tedious. If you had a scene with ALF, it took centuries. A 30-minute show took 20 to 25 hours to shoot. Some of the actors in the cast had difficult personalities. The whole thing was a big, dysfunctional family.”
She is survived by her husband of 55 years Christopher Barrett, daughter Tay Barrett, daughter-in-law Hilary Flynn, sister Sarabeth Schedeen, niece Minnie Schedeen brother Roland “Tony” Schedeen and sister in-law Julieann Schedeen. The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Habitat for Humanity.
