Gordon Shumway, nicknamed ALF (acronym for Alien Life Form), is an alien from the planet Melmac.
ALF was born on October 28, 1756 (According to the Melmacian Calendar, he was born on the 28th of Nathinganger) and has a younger brother and sister. He once mentions that he was conceived in a DeSoto. ALF's body is covered with rust-colored fur (he once described his color as burnt sienna), but has implied that it is not his natural color. (ALF: "A.L.F.") He has a rippled snout, facial moles, eight stomachs and he likes to eat cats. He is about three feet tall. (ALF: "A.L.F.") He attended Melmac High School for 122 years, where he majored in software and pedestrian crossing, and was captain of a Bouillabaisseball team (which is played on ice using shellfish as a ball). In college, ALF majored in physical education.

At sometime in ALF's life, (according to a line in the movie) ALF was an underwear model. ALF was later employed as an Orbit Guard and was called to duty shortly before his planet was destroyed in a nuclear war. His girlfriend Rhonda escaped the destruction of Melmac in a spaceship piloted by his best friend Skip.