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William "Willie" Francis Tanner is the father of the Tanner family, performed by Max Wright, and a social worker. He is the human protagonist in the series ALF.

At the Social Services Department of Los Angeles County. Willie is a shortwave radio enthusiast, and it was a result of his shortwave radio signals that ALF followed them and crashed into his home. Willie also avidly collects scale model train sets. He was born in Decatur, Illinois, (although he claims to be from Ohio when the support group comes to the Tanner house) and he attended Claremont High School, then later graduated from UCLA. Willie also claims to have gone to Amherst College. Willie has a Bachelor's (presumably from UCLA) and a Master's (presumably from Amherst). Willie majored in social science. When Willie uses his homemade ham radio to call somebody, he uses the callsign "K726 XAA".

He was arrested by the FBI after ALF made radio calls to Air Force One, but after another call came in while Willie was in custody, his innocence was determined as he could not have been two places at once and Willie was released by the President.

Early Life[]

Willie at Woodstock

Willie at Woodstock.

William Tanner was born in March 11, 1941 with his unknown parents and had a brother named Neal Tanner. Neal was bullied in school, causing his brother to call him a sissy and teaching him how to defend himself. Like his wife, Kate, he was a flower child during the 1960s. Willie's mother wore a wig, something that made Willie sad to discover when he was six years old. Willie had a grandfather that taught him to walk away from his bully Clarence instead of trying to fight him. The same grandfather apparently talked to corn chips. Willie dated Kate's sister (which ALF refers to as "the hideous one") for a while before dating Kate. In his teen years, he would be called Boxcar Willie because he used to jump around trains and ride in the country. Willie and Kate would later have a Honeymoon at Nigeria Falls in Summer of 1967.

And later gave birth to Lynn and Brian. Then, in September 22, 1986, Alf would crash land in their garage.

Later Life[]

Willie has had a somewhat difficult relationship with ALF. He does not appreciate ALF's carelessness or party animal attitude. Sometimes, what ALF would do what would cause Willie to lose his temper and get very angry with him, often followed by Willie screaming loud or banishing ALF to the garage. Despite their friction, Willie is interested in astronomy and as such, he considers it a blessing that ALF has landed in the Tanner home and is genuinely interested in what Melmac was like.

Family:[]

Trivia[]

  • He speaks to ALF more frequently than the rest of the Tanner family.
  • A 1988 comic book based on the show had Willie as an astronaut, where he crashed into the garage of the Shumway family on Melmac. After that experience, Willie said he better understood ALF's predicament.
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