One Of Our Favorite TV Dads From The 80s Is Having A Seriously Rough Time

I was watching a rerun of Friends last night and saw Max Wright giving Rachel the third degree about her job, and wondered what ever happened to one of my favorite TV dads of the 80s?

From 1986 to 2004 Max Wright played Willie Tanner on the hit TV series ALF, and he soon rose to be one of our favorite TV dads of the 80s. He had a powerful career when we were growing up, including roles in Who's The Boss, Ghostwriter and Murphy Brown.

But after 2005 Wright seemed to have disappeared from acting. So where has his life taken him? Well the answer to that takes us down a deep, dark hole.

Wright's life has come a long way in two decades, from the bright lights of Hollywood.

While ALF may have brought him his greatest fame, he has admitted to hating the sitcom that he described as "grueling and idiosyncratic."

"I was hugely eager to have it over with," he said, although he admitted that ALF "brought people a lot of joy."

The unsuspecting show about a furry, candy-eating alien named Gordon Shumway, was a surprising hit for the NBC network. It became the fifth most-watched show on TV during its second season.

What was even more surprising was the cancellation of the comedy in its fourth season. Reported dissatisfaction from most of the actors and declining ratings, caused the network to pull the series we once loved.

The 74-year-old actor has been pictured outside of his modest California apartment looking in pretty rough shape.

Since his career peak, he has lead a challenging life that included cancer, legal issues and even a sex and drugs scandal. A far cry from how we remember him on TV.