Michu Meszaros: ‘Alf’ Star Dead At 76

Michu Meszaros has passed away at the age of 76 — after he became an unlikely star while wearing a furry outfit on "Alf" as the lead character of the hit '80s sitcom! His passing was also in stark contrast to the sad fate of former costar Max Wright. Michu — who stood three feet tall — ran around as the furry alien while voice talent Paul Fusco did the wisecracking. Hungarian-born Michu still had plenty of opportunities to show off his own face, first gaining stardom in the '70s touring as "The Smallest Man on Earth" with the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus.

Michu took on some acting roles in B-movies in the '80s before landing his long-running role on "Alf." He found further fame when he met an adoring Michael Jackson, who featured the former circus performer in two Pepsi commercials. Michu also invested his money wisely — dying while in a coma after being found dead in his Beverly Hills home. Sadly, Michu went out while in much better shape than his old costar Max, who's still hiding away after years of being a broken-down crack addict!

Max was once a respected theater actor before he made a move to Los Angeles that ended up with him acting opposite Michu in a furry costume. The star grew bitter after four seasons of starring in a show that he hated. In April 2001, The National ENQUIRER revealed that Max's misery had brought him to new lows — with secret video catching him smoking crack and making gay pornography with strangers!

The disturbing footage showed Max, then 57, lounging with two naked men in a squalid apartment while inhaling crack from a makeshift pipe, fondling one of the men and then having sex with the other. "His life was so out of control that he didn't care about exposure to AIDS," said a former gay lover of the actor, who had recently attempted to make a comeback on a sitcom with Norm McDonald. "We would meet twice a week and pick up homeless men, take them home, and pay them $100 for sex!"

"Max totally fell apart last year. He was into heavy drinking and heavy drugs," the close friend told The ENQUIRER in 2001 — adding that the actor, then still married to his wife Linda, was trying to turn his life around. "He's in a 12-step program," said the insider, adding: "He had the world by the tail, but let it all slip away because of his demons."

Sadly, Max seemed sober but reclusive when The ENQUIRER caught him leading a reclusive life — photographing him outside a modest apartment in a seedy stretch of Hermosa Beach, Calif. “Max appears completely alone,” a neighbor said. “He seldom leaves his place, except to take out the trash or pick up groceries. You’d have no idea he was once a big star on prime-time TV.”

Max had gone on to declare that he was drug-free in 2003, but he hasn’t worked in film or television since 2005. He never divorced from Linda — but she doesn't live with him, either. “He’s pretty much an outcast,” whispered one local. “He still wears his trademark spectacles, but he’s withered away and thin, and sometimes wears the same outfit for a few days in a row!”