George Wendt, right, and John Ratzenberger were two of the colorful regulars at the Boston bar known as Cheers, which was also the name of the hit NBC sitcom that aired from 1982 to 1993. Wendt died Tuesday at the age of 76, 32 years to the day after the finale of "Cheers."
Kim Gottlieb/TV Guide/NBC/Everett Collection
George Wendt, an actor with an Everyman charm who played the affable, beer-loving barfly Norm on the hit 1980s TV comedy Cheersand later crafted a stage career that took him to Broadway in Art, Hairspray and Elf, has died. He was 76.
Wendt’s family said he died early Tuesday morning, peacefully in his sleep while at home, according to the publicity firm The Agency Group.
“George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him,” the family said in a statement. “He will be missed forever.” The family has requested privacy during this time.
Despite a long career of roles onstage and on TV, it was as gentle and henpecked Norm Peterson on Cheers that he was most associated, earning six straight Emmy Award nominations for best supporting actor in a comedy series from 1984-89.
The series was centered on lovable losers in a Boston bar and starred Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman, Kelsey Grammer, John Ratzenberger, Kirstie Alley and Woody Harrelson. It would spin off another megahit in Frasier and was nominated for an astounding 117 Emmy Awards, winning 28 of them. In 2021, AARP named Cheers one of the 25 greatest sitcoms of all time.
Wendt, who spent six years in Chicago’s renowned Second City improv troupe before sitting on a barstool at the place where everybody knows your name, didn’t have high hopes when he auditioned for Cheers.
“My agent said, ‘It’s a small role, honey. It’s one line. Actually, it’s one word.’ The word was ‘beer.’ I was having a hard time believing I was right for the role of ‘the guy who looked like he wanted a beer.’ So I went in, and they said, ‘It’s too small a role. Why don’t you read this other one?’ And it was a guy who never left the bar,” Wendt told GQ in an oral history of Cheers.
While Wendt was best known for playing Norm on "Cheers," he had a long and distinguished career on TV, stage and screen.
Jeff Christensen/AP Photo
‘Where everyone knows your name’
Cheers premiered in September 1982 and spent the first season with low ratings. NBC President Brandon Tartikoff championed the show, and it was nominated for an Emmy for best comedy series in its first season. Some 80 million people would tune in to watch its series finale 11 years later.
Wendt became a fan favorite in and outside the bar — his entrances were cheered with a warm “Norm!” — and his wisecracks always landed. “How’s a beer sound, Norm?” he would be asked by the bartender. “I dunno. I usually finish them before they get a word in,” he’d respond.
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