Actor was also the Central Perk boss in Friends

ALF star Max Wright has died at the age of 75 after a long battle with cancer,

He was best known for playing Willie Tanner, the adoptive father of the ‘alien life force’, in the hit 1980s sitcom.

But he also  appeared in the first two seasons of Friends as Terry 'The Jerk’, the manager of Central Perk before Gunther arrived. He was the boss of  Jennifer Aniston’s character Rachel when she worked there as a waitress.

Alf, aired from 1986 to 1990, with the late Michu Meszaros wearing a full-body suit to portray the title character – a  friendly cat-eating alien who crash-landed in suburban America.

In a 2000  interview, Wright described working on the show as ‘hard work and very grim’.

'I was hugely eager to have it over with,' he added, although he conceded that Alf 'brought people a lot of joy.'

He also had small roles in the likes of Mad About You, Cheers and Murder, She Wrote before retiring from the screen in 2005.

Among those paying tribute were Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, who tweeted: "RIP Max Wright - a hilarious and talented actor. Sad news to hear of his passing. Who will keep Alf in check now?’

Wright was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1995, but later went into remission.

In 2001 he was at the centre of scandal when images from a drug-fuelled sex video in which he appeared with two other men were  published in the National Enquirer. However, he remained married to his wife of Linda Ybarrondo for 52 years, from 1965 until her death from breast cancer in 2017.

He died at home in Hermosa Beach, California, his family confirmed.

Published: 27 Jun 2019