  Deep near-infrared images obtained with adaptive optics systems on the Gemini
North and Canada-France-Hawaii telescopes are used to investigate the bright
stellar content and central regions of the nearby elliptical galaxy Maffei 1.
Stars evolving on the upper asymptotic giant branch (AGB) are resolved in a
field 3 arcmin from the center of the galaxy. The locus of bright giants on the
(K, H-K) color-magnitude diagram is consistent with a population of stars like
those in Baade's Window reddened by E(H-K) = 0.28 +/- 0.05 mag. This
corresponds to A_V = 4.5 +/- 0.8 mag, and is consistent with previous estimates
of the line of sight extinction computed from the integrated properties of
Maffei 1. The AGB-tip occurs at K = 20.0, which correponds to M_K = -8.7;
hence, the AGB-tip brightness in Maffei 1 is comparable to that in M32, NGC
5128, and the bulges of M31 and the Milky-Way. The near-infrared luminosity
functions (LFs) of bright AGB stars in Maffei 1, M32, and NGC 5128 are also in
excellent agreement, both in terms of overall shape and the relative density of
infrared-bright stars with respect to the fainter stars that dominate the light
at visible and red wavelengths. It is concluded that the brightest AGB stars in
Maffei 1, NGC 5128, M32, and the bulge of M31 trace an old, metal-rich
population, rather than an intermediate age population. It is also demonstrated
that Maffei 1 contains a distinct red nucleus, and this is likely the optical
signature of low-level nuclear activity and/or a distinct central stellar
population. Finally, there is an absence of globular clusters brighter than the
peak of the globular cluster LF in the central 700 x 700 parsecs of Maffei 1.
