Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg (known professionally as Benji Gregory; May 26, 1978 – June 13, 2024) was an American child actor and voice artist best known for playing Brian Tanner on the 1986–1990 NBC sitcom '' ALF''.

Early life

Benjamin Gregory Hertzberg was born in Los Angeles, California, on May 26, 1978. Multiple members of his family worked in the entertainment industry, and his grandmother worked as his agent. He was raised in

Thousand Oaks, California Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

, and began appearing in commercials when he was an infant.

Acting career

Gregory, beside his main role on '' ALF'', appeared in several television shows which included ''

Fantastic Max ''Fantastic Max'' is an animated cartoon series, originally aired on the BBC from 1988 to 1990 and created by Hanna-Barbera Productions, Kalisto Ltd., Booker PLC and Tanaka Promotion Co. in association with S4C. It centers on a boy named Maxwel ...

'' (1988–1990), ''

Pound Puppies Pound Puppies is a toy line that was created by Tonka in the 1980s. It later inspired an animated TV special, two animated TV series, and a feature film. Shipments of the toys over five years generated sales of $300 million in 35 countries. The ...

'' (1986–1987), ''

Murphy Brown ''Murphy Brown'' is an American television sitcom created by Diane English that premiered on November 14, 1988, on CBS. The series stars Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news presenter, news anch ...

'' (1988), ''

Fantasy Island ''Fantasy Island'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by Gene Levitt. It aired on ABC from 1977 to 1984. The series starred Ricardo Montalbán as the mysterious Mr. Roarke and Hervé Villechaize as his assistant, Tattoo. ...

'' (1978), ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American Action television, action television series that ran on NBC from January 23, 1983, to March 8, 1987, about a fictional team of former United States Army Special Forces who work as mercenaries while on the run from ...

'' (1984), ''

T.J. Hooker ''T. J. Hooker'' is an American police drama television program starring William Shatner in the title role as a 15-year veteran police sergeant. The series premiered as a mid-season replacement on March 13, 1982, on ABC and ran on the network u ...

'' (1984), ''

Amazing Stories ''Amazing Stories'' is an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction. Science fiction stories had made regular appearance ...

'' (1985), ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'' (1985), and '' Mr. Boogedy'' (1986). He also made an appearance in the feature film ''

Jumpin' Jack Flash "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a song by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released as a non-album single in 1968. Called "supernatural Delta blues by way of Swinging London" by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, the song was seen as the band's retu ...

'' (1986). Gregory appeared as himself in the PSAs television series ''

The More You Know ''The More You Know'' is a series of public service announcements (PSAs) broadcast on the NBCUniversal family of networks in the United States and other locations, featuring educational messages. These PSAs are broadcast occasionally during NB ...

'', the children's game show series ''

I'm Telling! ''I'm Telling!'' is an American television game show, which ran from September 12, 1987 to March 5, 1988 on NBC Saturday mornings and was hosted by Laurie Faso with Dean Goss announcing. The show is essentially a children's version of ''The New ...

'', the "Salute to the 50 States episodes" of the game show ''

Fun House A funhouse or fun house is an attraction found in amusement parks and funfair midways, equipped with various devices designed to surprise, challenge, or amuse visitors. Unlike thrill rides or dark rides, fun houses are participatory attractions ...

'', as well as on a kids episode of ''

The Dating Game ''The Dating Game'' is an American television game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was the first of many shows created and packaged by Chuck Barris from the 1960s through the 1980s. ABC dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it ...

.'' Gregory made several appearances on the television sitcom ''

Punky Brewster ''Punky Brewster'' is an American Situation comedy, sitcom television series about a young girl (Soleil Moon Frye) being raised by a foster parent (George Gaynes) in Chicago. The show ran on NBC from September 16, 1984, to March 9, 1986, and ag ...

'', playing an

orphan An orphan is a child whose parents have died, are unknown, or have permanently abandoned them. It can also refer to a child who has lost only one parent, as the Hebrew language, Hebrew translation, for example, is "fatherless". In some languages ...

named "Dash," and supplied the voice of Edgar the Mole in the animated feature ''

Once Upon a Forest ''Once Upon a Forest'' is a 1993 animated adventure film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Based on the ''Furlings'' characters created by Rae Lambert, the film was directed by Charles Grosvenor and p ...

'' (1993), which would be his final acting role. He was scheduled to co-star in a ''Punky Brewster'' spin-off called ''Fenster Hall''. The pilot/television-movie of ''Fenster Hall'' was never picked up for regular production.

Naval career

After graduating from school, Gregory enlisted in the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in 2003 and became an

aerographer's mate Aerographer's mate (abbreviated as AG) is a United States Navy occupational rating, devoted to collection and analysis of data related to weather, radar, and ocean conditions. Duties Aerographer's mates: * observe, collect, record and analyze m ...

. He was assigned to the USS ''Carl Vinson'' (CVN-70). In 2005, he received an honorable medical discharge.

Personal life and death

Gregory married a woman named Sarah in 2006 after completing his naval service. They later divorced. On June 13, 2024, Gregory and his

service dog An assistance dog is a dog that receives specialized training to aid an individual with a disability in navigating everyday life. Assistance dogs can be trained by an organization, or by their handler. Terminology 'Assistance dog' is the inte ...

were found dead inside a car at a

Chase Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Trade name, doing business as Chase, is an American National bank (United States), national bank headquartered in New York City that constitutes the retail banking, consumer and commercial bank, commercial banking su ...

parking lot in

Peoria, Arizona Peoria ( ) is a city in Maricopa and Yavapai counties in the U.S. state of Arizona. Most of the city is located in Maricopa County, while a portion of it in the north is in Yavapai County. It is a major suburb of Phoenix. As of the 2020 cens ...

. He was 46 years old. Pending an investigation of the cause, and allowing the family time to mourn, the death was not publicly announced until July 10. His sister said he had bipolar and

sleep disorder A sleep disorder, or somnipathy, is a medical disorder affecting an individual's sleep patterns, sometimes impacting physical, mental, social, and emotional functioning. Polysomnography and actigraphy are tests commonly ordered for diagnosing sle ...

s, and likely died of

heat stroke Heat stroke or heatstroke, also known as sun-stroke, is a severe heat illness that results in a body temperature greater than , along with red skin, headache, dizziness, and confusion. Sweating is generally present in exertional heatstro ...

after falling asleep in his car. On September 13, 2024, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner revealed that Gregory had died of both

hepatic cirrhosis Cirrhosis, also known as liver cirrhosis or hepatic cirrhosis, chronic liver failure or chronic hepatic failure and end-stage liver disease, is a chronic condition of the liver in which the normal functioning tissue, or parenchyma, is replaced ...

, with Gregory being revealed to have had a damaged liver, and heat exposure. The death was ruled accidental.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Benji 1978 births 2024 deaths 20th-century American male actors Academy of Art University alumni Accidental deaths in Arizona American male child actors American male television actors American male voice actors Deaths from hyperthermia Male actors from Los Angeles Military personnel from California People from Thousand Oaks, California People with bipolar disorder Deaths from cirrhosis United States Navy personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) United States Navy personnel of the Iraq War