Norm!
Photo: NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
George Wendt, the actor best known for playing Norm on Cheers, is dead at 76. “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him,” Wendt’s representative said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “He will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during this time.” He died peacefully at home.
Wendt starred as Norm on every episode of the show’s 11 seasons; Norm is a barfly of the highest manner, both congenial and running up an extremely high tab. Though he never won, he was nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for six consecutive years, from 1984 through ’89. Wendt also appeared as Norm on other series, including single episodes on Cheers spinoffs Frasier and The Tortellis.
Wendt grew up in Chicago, getting his start as a member of the iconic Chicago improv troupe the Second City. In 1986, he co-hosted what has been referred to as “the weirdest episode” of Saturday Night Live ever with Francis Ford Coppola. His nephew is Ted Lasso star Jason Sudeikis. After Cheers, he starred in the short-lived sitcom The George Wendt Show, playing a car-garage owner who also hosts a radio show, based on NPR’s “Car Talk.” His last television appearance was on season nine of The Masked Singer. He was eliminated after performing “The Power of Love” by Huey Lewis & the News. After being unmasked, he described the experience as “profoundly ridiculous” before finishing his television career by telling his fans, “Let’s go have a beer!”
