| Max Wright | |
| Birth Name: | George Edward Wright |
| Birth Date: | 2 August 1943 |
| Birth Place: | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Death Place: | Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Occupation: | Actor |
| Years Active: | 1968–2011 |
| Children: | 2 |
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).
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.[1]
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.
Wright made supporting appearances on television shows such as WKRP in Cincinnati, and was a regular cast member on Misfits of Science,[2] AfterMASH,[3] Buffalo Bill, and The Norm Show, and the made-for-TV adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand.[4] He appeared in the first and second seasons of the sitcom Friends as Terry, the manager of Central Perk. He played Günter Wendt in the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon[5] and Dr. Josef Mengele in Playing for Time.[6]
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 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.[7] 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."
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.[8] 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.[9] In 2007, he acted at the JET (Jewish Ensemble Theatre) in Detroit[10] and in the production of No Man's Land at the American Repertory Theater.[11] 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.[12]
Wright was married to Linda Ybarrondo from 1965 until her death from breast cancer in 2017. The couple had two children.[13] [14]
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.[15] [1] [16] [17]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Last Embrace | Second Commuter | [18] | ||
| 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 | Romantic film directed by Steve Miner | |||
| 1988 | Going to the Chapel | Howard Haldane | Comedy film directed by Paul Lynch | [19] | |
| 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 | |||
| Snow Falling on Cedars | Horace Whaley | [20] | |||
| 2002 | Easter | Zaddock Pratt | [21] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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" |
| 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 |