Anne Schedeen, best known for playing the harried suburban matriarch Kate Tanner on the NBC sitcom “ALF,” died Sunday at the age of 77, and her family made sure to include her political views alongside her other legacies, noting in her obituary her “burning hatred for Trump.”
Her family announced her death on her official Facebook page.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share Annie has passed peacefully,” the statement read. Along with tributes to her “creative energy,” humor and love of family, the post listed her antipathy toward the president in the same breath as her “adoration for little dogs” and “passion for second-hand thrifting.” A cause of death was not disclosed. The family asked that donations be made to Habitat for Humanity in lieu of flowers.
“She was a force. And it is unimaginable to think about life without her in it,” the family added.
Ms. Schedeen was born Luanne Ruth Schedeen on Jan. 8, 1949, in Portland, Oregon, and began acting classes as a child at the Portland Civic Theatre. She later studied at Portland State University and Fort Wright College before moving to New York to pursue a professional career, eventually signing a contract with Universal Pictures in Los Angeles.
She built a steady television resume throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, with a recurring role as Nurse Carol on NBC’s medical drama “Emergency!” and appearances on “Three’s Company,” “Cheers,” “Magnum P.I.” and “Murder, She Wrote.” On the big screen, she appeared opposite Rock Hudson and Diane Ladd in the 1976 sci-fi horror film “Embryo” and alongside Lucie Arnaz and Craig Wasson in 1983’s “Second Thoughts.” She co-starred in the 1984 ABC soap opera “Paper Dolls” with Lauren Hutton and Morgan Fairchild, though the series was canceled after 14 episodes.
It was “ALF” that brought Ms. Schedeen lasting recognition. The sitcom, which ran on NBC from 1986 to 1990, followed a suburban family sheltering a wisecracking alien — known as ALF, short for Alien Life Form — who had crash-landed in their garage. Ms. Schedeen played Kate Tanner, the no-nonsense mother at the center of the household’s chaos.
The show was an early ratings hit for the network but faced mounting production challenges: Because ALF was a hand-operated puppet, episodes were notoriously slow and physically grueling to film. Ms. Schedeen once told People magazine it was a “technical nightmare — extremely slow, hot and tedious,” adding that a single 30-minute episode could take 20 to 25 hours to shoot. After the show was moved from its established Monday night slot to Saturday, then Sunday, viewership declined and it was canceled.
After “ALF” ended, Ms. Schedeen appeared in the 1996 Alec Baldwin thriller “Heaven’s Prisoners” and had a recurring role on the legal drama “Judging Amy” in 2001.
She is survived by her husband of 55 years, Christopher Barrett; daughter Taylor Barrett; daughter-in-law Hilary Flynn; sister Sarabeth Schedeen; niece Minnie Schedeen; brother Roland “Tony” Schedeen; and sister-in-law Julieanne Schedeen.
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