Max Wright

Wright made supporting appearances on television shows such as WKRP in Cincinnati^[2] and Cheers,^[3] and was a regular cast member on Misfits of Science,^[3]AfterMASH,^[4] and Buffalo Bill.^[5] He had roles in the films All That Jazz (1979),^[3]Reds (1981),^[3]The Sting II (1983),^[3] and Soul Man (1986),^[3] and played Dr. Josef Mengele in the 1980 TV movie 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 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.^[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."^[7]

Wright's later appearances included Murder, She Wrote,^[8]Quantum Leap,^[8]Murphy Brown,^[8]Early Edition,^[8] and the first and second seasons of the sitcom Friends as Terry, the manager of Central Perk.^[5] He also appeared as Dr. Herbert Denninger in the 1994 made-for-TV adaptation of Stephen King's The Stand,^[9] Berger in the 1994 film The Shadow,^[3] the inspector in the 1995 film Grumpier Old Men,^[8]Günter Wendt in the 1998 HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon,^[8] and Norm's boss in the sitcom The Norm Show.^[3]

كان لرايت مسيرة فنية على خشبة المسرح أيضًا. ففي عام 1968، شارك في العرض الأول لمسرحية "الأمل الأبيض العظيم" على مسرح أرينا في واشنطن العاصمة ^{[ 2 ].} وفي عام 1998، ظهر على مسارح برودواي في مسرحية "إيفانوف" ، التي رشحته لجائزة توني ^{[ 2 ]} ، كما لعب دور السير أندرو في مسرحية " الليلة الثانية عشرة" في مركز لينكولن للفنون الأدائية ^{[ 10 ]} . وفي عام 2007، مثّل في مسرح جيت (المسرح اليهودي) في ديترويت ^{[ 11 ]} وفي مسرحية " أرض بلا رجال" على مسرح ريبيرتوري الأمريكي ^{[ 12 ]} . كما شارك في إنتاج مسرح ذا بابليك عام 2010 لمسرحية " حكاية الشتاء" ومسرحية "تاجر البندقية" في مهرجانات شكسبير في الحديقة ^{[ 13 ]} .

في 10 يناير 2000، أُلقي القبض على رايت ووُجهت إليه تهمة القيادة تحت تأثير الكحول بعد حادث سير لم يسفر عن إصابات في هوليوود . أُطلق سراحه لاحقاً بكفالة قدرها 7500 دولار. ^{[ 15 ]}

في أغسطس/آب 2003، أُلقي القبض عليه ووُجهت إليه تهمة قيادة تحت تأثير الكحول مرة أخرى، وذلك لقيادته سيارته في ولاية نيويورك بعد أن دهس صناديق بريد وإشارة مرور. تم تعليق رخصته لمدة ستة أشهر. أُودع سجن مقاطعة كولومبيا، ودفع الكفالة بعد شهر، في 30 سبتمبر/أيلول 2003. ^{[ 16 ] [ 17 ]}