HERMOSA BEACH, CA — Veteran actor Max Wright, known for playing father Willie Tanner on the 1980s sitcom “Alf,” has died at age 75.
Relatives told TMZ that Wright died at his home in Hermosa Beach following a battle with cancer. Wright was diagnosed with Lymphoma in 1995, but had been in remission for a long while, according to TMZ.
Wright’s television career dated back to the mid-1970s, and over the years he appeared on shows such as “Hart to Hart,” “WKRP in Cincinnati,” “Taxi,” “Buffalo Bill,” “Benson,” “Cheers,” “Misfits of Science,” “Who’s the Boss?,” “Murphy Brown,” “Friends,” “Norm” and “The Drew Carey Show.”
But he was best known for his role on “Alf,” a cult sitcom about a puppet alien that crash-landed into a family’s garage. Wright was a Tony-nominated stage actor; his Broadway debut was in the 1968 production of “The Great White Hope,” Variety reported.
Wright married his wife, Linda Ybarrondo, in 1965. They were married until Ybarrondo died in 2017 of breast cancer. Wright is survived by his two children, Ben and Daisy.