He Played Brian Tanner on "ALF." See Benji Gregory Now at 44.
Learn about the former child actor's life after the show.
In 1986, sitcom viewers—and the Tanners—received a funny visitor from another planet. The series ALF ran from 1986 to 1990 and told the story of a family who were completely normal until an "alien life form" appeared at their home. Soon, ALF became one of them, while simultaneously hiding out from the government, causing trouble, and hunting down house cats to eat. A lot of the series involved ALF getting into shenanigans with the Tanners, including little Brian, who was played by Benji Gregory. When the show first premiered, Gregory was only eight years old. Now, he's 44. And while he isn't acting anymore, he did take on a few more roles after ALF ended. Read on to find out about his life today.
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He was a child actor before and after ALF.
Before starring on ALF, Gregory was already a working actor. He'd made appearances on Punky Brewster, The A-Team, T.J. Hooker, and The Twilight Zone, among other roles. When ALF ended after four seasons, Gregory kept acting for a few more years. He appeared on an episode of Murphy Brown and in a couple of TV movies. He also had a voice role in the Back to the Future TV series.
He studied film.
Gregory (who also sometimes goes by his real name, Ben Hertzberg), has lived a pretty private life since his acting days ended and hasn't given many interviews. In 2000, he gave an update to People and shared that he was studying film at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco.
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He joined the Navy.
In addition to listing where he attended college, Gregory's Facebook page notes that he was an Aerographer's Mate for the U.S. Navy. According to the Navy website, Aerographer's Mates "calculate weather patterns, analyze data and distribute forecasts to ships and squadrons around the world."
He was truly done with acting.
In his interview with People in 2000, Gregory shared that he thought he still wanted to work in entertainment, but "definitely not acting." There were some benefits to his child acting experience, however.
"I can pay my rent easily—most of the money is still in the bank—and I never get butterflies in my stomach when I have to talk in front of the class," he said.
He also looked back on his time on ALF. "The only times it felt like work was when the lights were on and it was real hot," he said, adding that he remembered "climbing under the stage and messing around with the staff." He continued of the rest of his time as a child star, "I was on a lot of stupid cartoons. Voiceovers are easy, and I wasn't actively trying to act anymore."
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