Max Wright

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title: "Max Wright" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1943-births", "2019-deaths", "20th-century-american-male-actors", "21st-century-american-male-actors", "american-male-film-actors", "american-male-stage-actors", "american-male-television-actors", "deaths-from-cancer-in-new-jersey", "deaths-from-lymphoma-in-the-united-states", "male-actors-from-detroit", "wabash-college-alumni"] description: "American actor (1943–2019)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Wright" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American actor (1943–2019) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Max Wright
image	Max Wright "Buffalo Bill" (1983 NBC press photo) (cropped).jpg
caption	Wright in Buffalo Bill, 1983
birth_name	George Edward Wright
birth_date
birth_place	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
death_date
death_place	Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
occupation	Actor
years_active	1968–2011
children	2
spouse
::

| name = Max Wright | image = Max Wright "Buffalo Bill" (1983 NBC press photo) (cropped).jpg | image_size = | caption = Wright in Buffalo Bill, 1983 | birth_name = George Edward Wright | birth_date = | birth_place = Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1968–2011 | children = 2 | spouse = George Edward "Max" Wright (August 2, 1943 – June 26, 2019) was an American actor, known for his role as Willie Tanner on the sitcom ALF (1986–1990).

Early life

Wright was born August 2, 1943, in Detroit, Michigan, as George Edward Wright. He took the nickname "Max" as other actors were already known as George Wright.

He moved to the suburb of Southfield as a child, graduating from Southfield Senior High School in 1961. While a student at Southfield, he was very active in the theatre program and had leads in two different musical productions.

Career

Early Film and television

Wright made supporting appearances on television shows such as WKRP in Cincinnati and Cheers, and was a regular cast member on Misfits of Science, AfterMASH, and Buffalo Bill.

''ALF''

From 1986 to 1990, Wright appeared in the sitcom ALF as Willie Tanner, a typical father of a middle-class family, who finds an alien who has crash-landed on Earth. Despite this becoming his best-known performance, the actor despised the role due to its huge technical demands and the fact that he, a human, played a supporting character for an "inanimate object". "It was hard work and very grim", he stated in a 2000 interview to People. He was also, reportedly, very happy when the show was canceled in 1990. "I was hugely eager to have it over with", he said in the same interview. According to his co-star in the show, Anne Schedeen, "there was one take, and Max walked off the set, went to his dressing room, got his bags, went to his car, and disappeared. Nobody had to say, 'Wrap,' and there were no goodbyes". However, Wright later admitted that as the years passed he looked back at ALF with less animosity and conceded that "It doesn't matter what I felt or what the days were like, ALF brought people a lot of joy."

Later Film and television

Wright's later appearances included Murder, She Wrote, Quantum Leap, Murphy Brown, Early Edition, and the first and second seasons of the sitcom Friends as Terry, the manager of Central Perk. Berger in the 1994 film The Shadow, the inspector in the 1995 film Grumpier Old Men, Günter Wendt in the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, and Norm's boss in the sitcom The Norm Show.

Stage

Wright also had a stage career. In 1968, he appeared in the original production of The Great White Hope at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. In 1998, he appeared on Broadway in Ivanov, which garnered him a Tony nomination, and played Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In 2007, he acted at the JET (Jewish Ensemble Theatre) in Detroit and in the production of No Man's Land at the American Repertory Theater. He also appeared in The Public Theater's 2010 production of The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare in the Park festivals.

Personal life

Wright was married to Linda Ybarrondo from 1965 until her death from breast cancer in 2017. The couple had two children.

Legal issues

On January 10, 2000, Wright was arrested and charged for alleged DUI following a non-injury car accident in Hollywood, he was later released on a bail of $7,500.

In August 2003, he was arrested and charged for another alleged DUI for driving through New York state after running over some mailboxes and a traffic sign, his license was suspended for six months, he was booked into the Columbia County Jail and posted bail a month later on September 30, 2003.

Death

In 1995, he was diagnosed with lymphoma, which was successfully treated and remained in remission until 2019. He died from the disease on June 26, 2019, at the age of 75 at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1979	Last Embrace	Second Commuter	{{Plain list
All That Jazz	Joshua Penn	Drama-musical film directed by Bob Fosse and written by Robert Alan Aurthur & Fosse
1980	Simon	Leon Hundertwasser	Comedy-science fiction film directed and written by Marshall Brickman
1981	Reds	Floyd Dell	Biographical-historical drama directed by Warren Beatty and written by Beatty & Trevor Griffiths
1983	The Sting II	Floor Manager	Crime film directed by Jeremy Paul Kagan
1985	Fraternity Vacation	Millard Tvedt	Comedy film directed by James Frawley
1986	Touch and Go	Lester	Romantic film directed by Robert Mandel
Soul Man	Dr. Aronson	Comedy film directed by Steve Miner
1988	Going to the Chapel	Howard Haldane	Comedy film directed by Paul Lynch	title=Going to the Chapel
1994	The Shadow	Berger	Action-adventure film directed by Russell Mulcahy
1995	Grumpier Old Men	County Health Inspector	Comedy film directed by Howard Deutch
1999	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Robin Starveling	{{Plain list
Snow Falling on Cedars	Horace Whaley	{{Plain list		last=Guterson
2002	Easter	Zaddock Pratt	{{Plain list
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
1974	Great Performances	Etienne	Episode: "In Fashion"
1977	Red Alert		TV movie
1980	Playing for Time	Dr. Mengele	TV movie
1981	For Ladies Only	Shakespeare Director	TV movie
1982	Hart to Hart	Dr. Robert Chase	Episode: "Hart of Diamonds"
CBS Afternoon Playhouse		1 episode
WKRP in Cincinnati	Frank Bartman	2 episodes
Taxi	Mr. Ambrose	Episode: "The Road Not Taken: Part 2"
1983	Tales from the Darkside	Mr. Bundle	Episode: "Trick or Treat" (Pilot)
1983–1984	Buffalo Bill	Karl Shub	25 episodes
1984	AfterMASH	Burt Philbrick	Episode: "Less Miserables"
The Boy Who Loved Trolls	Secretary	TV movie
E/R	Marvin Brock	Episode: "Mr. Fix-It"
1985	Scandal Sheet	Stan Clark	TV movie
Code Name: Foxfire		1 episode, Episode: "Slay It Again, Sam"
Benson	Bernard	Season 6 episode 19 "Mid-life Cowboy"
Konrad	Dr. Al Monford	TV movie
Misfits of Science	Dick Stetmeyer	TV movie
1985–1986	Misfits of Science	Dick Stetmeyer	15 episodes
1986	Cheers	Jim Fleener	2 episodes
Comedy Factory		Episode: "The Faculty"
Liberty	Alexandre Gustave Eiffel	TV movie
1986–1990	ALF	Willie Tanner	99 episodes
1987	Faerie Tale Theatre	Prince Heinrick	Episode: "The Dancing Princesses"
1988	Five to Eleven	Reader	Episode: "Oh How Pleasant to Know Mr. Lear!"
1991	Murder, She Wrote	Gerald Yelverton	Episode: "The Taxman Cometh"
1992	Ghostwriter	Mr. Brinker	4 episode
Quantum Leap	Doc Kinman	2 episodes
The Powers That Be	Justice Reynolds	Episode: "Sophie's Big Decision"
1993	Dudley	Paul	6 episodes
Murphy Brown	Marshall Corwin	Episode: "All the Life That's Fit to Print"
Roc	Mr. Cole	Episode: "Shove It Up Your Asprin"
1994	Monty	Wild, Wild Willy	Episode: "Wild, Wild Willy and His O.K. Corral"
The Stand	Dr. Herbert Denninger	1 episode
White Mile	Bill Spencer	TV movie
1995	A Mother's Gift	Herman Mandelbrot	TV movie
1994–1995	Friends	Terry	2 episodes
1996	The John Larroquette Show	Jackson Bishop	Episode: "Some Call Them Beasts"
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	Herbie Hinkle (voice)	Episode: "You Only Scare Twice"
Early Edition	Mayor Mike Garfield	Episode: "Thief Swipes Mayor's Dog"
High Incident	Gass	Episode: "Change Partners"
1997	Dead by Midnight	Dr. Jonas Reilly	TV movie
1998	From the Earth to the Moon	Guenter Wendt	Episode: "We Have Cleared the Tower"
Twelfth Night, or What You Will	Sir Andrew Aguecheek	TV movie
Mad About You	Man in Elevator	Episode: "Season Opener"
1999	The Drew Carey Show	Drew's Stomach	Episode: "Drew's Stomachache"
1999–2001	The Norm Show	Max Denby	49 episodes
2003	A Minute with Stan Hooper	The Mayor	Episode: "Stan Hooper Goes to Washington"
2005	Back to Norm	Uncle Joe	TV movie, final film role
::

Stage

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role(s)	Venue	Notes	Ref.
1968	The Great White Hope	Mr. Coates, reporter, German officer	Alvin Theatre	Broadway debut
1971	The Taming of the Shrew	Grumio	Guthrie Theater
1974	Leonce and Lena	performer	Arena Stage		title=Production History
Horatio	Phrenologist	Arena Stage		last1=Novick	first1=Julius
1975	The Ascent of Mount Fuji	Mainbet Abavev	Arena Stage
1976	Heartbreak House	Mazzini Dunn	Arena Stage
Waiting for Godot	Didi	Arena Stage
Our Town	performer	Arena Stage
1977	The Cherry Orchard	Semyon Panteleyevich Yepikhodov	Vivian Beaumont Theater
The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel	Parker	Longacre Theatre
1978	Stages	Arnold Glickman, Father, Jack, Trooper	Belasco Theatre
Once in a Lifetime	Lawrence Vail	Circle in the Square Theatre	Theatre World Award	last1=Bergkvist	first1=Robert
The Inspector General	Iván Alexándrovich Khlestakóv	Circle in the Square Theatre
1979	Richard III	Second Murderer	Cort Theater
1980	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Francis Flute	American Repertory Theater
Happy End	Bob Marker	American Repertory Theater
The Inspector General	Mayor	American Repertory Theater
Lunch Hour	Leo	Ethel Barrymore Theatre
1981	Henry IV, Part 1	Glendower	Delacorte Theater
1982	The Front Page	Endicott	Long Wharf Theatre
1992	What the Butler Saw	Dr. Prentice	La Jolla Playhouse
1995	Denial	Professor Bernard Cooper	Long Wharf Theatre
1997	Ivanov	Pavel Lebedev	Vivian Beaumont Theater	Tony Award nomination	last1=Evans
1998	Twelfth Night	Sir Andrew Aguecheek	Vivian Beaumont Theater
The Cripple of Inishmaan	Johnnypateenmike	Geffen Playhouse
1999	The Taming of the Shrew	Christopher Sly	Delacorte Theater
2005	Happy End	Narrator	Pacific Resident Theatre
2007	No Man's Land	Spooner	American Repertory Theater	Elliot Norton Award
2010	The Winter's Tale	Old Shepherd	Delacorte Theater
The Merchant of Venice	Prince of Aragon	Delacorte Theater
::

References

References

1. Padnani, Amisha. (July 2, 2019). "Max Wright, Who Went From Theater Roles to 'ALF,' Dies at 75".
2. Didymus, John Thomas. (June 27, 2019). "ALF star Max Wright dead at 75: Cause of death linked to cancer".
3. "Playing for Time".
4. "Alf: 1986–1990".
5. "Max Wright".
6. "A beautiful production opens JET season". pridesource.com.
7. "No Man's Land". americanrepertorytheater.org.
8. (August 22, 2006). "The Public Theater's website". Publictheater.org.
9. (June 27, 2019). "Max Wright: Star of Alf and Buffalo Bill dies aged 75". BBC.
10. Haring, Bruce. (June 26, 2019). "Max Wright Dies: Father On '80s Sitcom 'Alf' Was 75". [[Penske Media Corporation]].
11. (January 10, 2000). "Man Killed in Crash on Hollywood Freeway". Los Angeles Times.
12. (August 29, 2003). "Former 'Alf' actor faces DWI count". The Daily Gazette.
13. Rich Azzopardi. (August 27, 2003). "'ALF' TV father is busted". News 19.
14. Merrett, Robyn. (June 26, 2019). "ALF Star Max Wright Dies at 75 Following Decades-Long Battle with Lymphoma". [[Meredith Corporation]].
15. Anderson, Natasha. (June 26, 2019). "Report: 'Alf' star Max Wright passes away at 75". [[Tribune Broadcasting]].
16. Barnes, Mike. (June 26, 2019). "Max Wright, Who Played the Dad on 'ALF,' Dies at 75". The Hollywood Reporter.
17. Bloom, Murray Teigh. (1977). "The 13th Man". [[Macmillan Publishers]].
18. "Going to the Chapel". [[Fandango Media]].
19. Guterson, David. (1995). "Snow Falling on Cedars". [[Vintage Books]].
20. McCarthy, Todd. (April 23, 2003). "Easter".
21. "The Great White Hope – Broadway Play – Original". The Broadway League.
22. "Max Wright – Broadway Cast & Staff". The Broadway League.
23. (20 September 1971). "Stage: Langham Revitalizes the Guthrie Theater". New York Times.
24. "Production History".
25. (14 July 1974). "Two Plays at Washington's Arena Stage About the Work Ethic". New York Times.
26. (8 June 1975). "Theater: Soviet 'Ascent'". New York Times.
27. (2 March 1976). "Stage: Arena Troupe Revives 'Heartbreak House'". New York Times.
28. (1 April 1976). "At Arena Stage: Audience Waits". George Washington University.
29. (18 February 1977). "Stage: A 'Cherry Orchard' That Celebrates Genius". New York Times.
30. "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel – Broadway Play – Original". The Broadway League.
31. "Stages – Broadway Play – Original". The Broadway League.
32. (23 June 1978). "New Face: Max Wright". New York Times.
33. "The Inspector General – Broadway Play – 1978 Revival". The Broadway League.
34. (15 June 1979). "Drama: Al Pacino Plays Richard III". New York Times.
35. "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Harvard University.
36. "Happy End". Harvard University.
37. "The Inspector General". Harvard University.
38. (13 November 1980). "Stage: Jean Kerr's 'Lunch Hour' Opens at Barrymore Theater". New York Times.
39. (21 August 1981). "'HENRY IV, PART 1,' IN THE PARK". New York Times.
40. (10 June 1982). "THEATER: 'FRONT PAGE' IN NEW HAVEN". New York Times.
41. (29 July 1992). "What the Butler Saw". Variety.
42. (10 December 1995). "Denial". Variety.
43. (29 November 1997). "Ivanov". Variety.
44. (17 July 1998). "FESTIVAL REVIEW; Addled Sailors in Sea of Love". New York Times.
45. (29 October 1998). "The Cripple of Inishmaan". Variety.
46. (6 July 1999). "The Taming of the Shrew". Variety.
47. (28 Jan 2005). "Troupe embraces spirit of 'Happy End'". Los Angeles Times.
48. (6 April 2007). "Paul Benedict and Max Wright to Star in A.R.T's No Man's Land". Theatermania.
49. "No Man's Land". Harvard University.
50. "2008". Boston Theater Critics Association.
51. (1 July 2010). ""Winter's Tale" good but not great in Central Park". Reuters.
52. (30 June 2010). "Railing at a Money-Mad World". New York Times.

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