"Norm is just me with better writing. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of actors who could have delivered on the absolute gems that I was handed on a silver platter every Wednesday morning."
- George Wendt, Chicago Magazine interview, 2021
George Wendt, best known for his role as Norm Peterson on the hit sitcom Cheers, passed away on May 20, 2025. For 11 seasons (1982-1993), George portrayed Norm in all 275 episodes of Cheers. 269 episodes of the series were originally aired on NBC. However, there are 275 episodes in syndication because several longer episodes in season 9, 10 and 11 were divided into half-hour formats. Aside from George, the only other actors who appeared in every episode of Cheers were Ted Danson, who played Sam Malone, and Rhea Perlman, who played Carla Tortelli.
George Robert Wendt Jr. was born on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, one nine children (six daughter and three sons). His mother, Loretta Mary (Howard) was a housewife and a longtime volunteer and fundraiser for Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen Park on the southwest side of Chicago. His father, George Robert Wendt Sr., was an officer in the U.S, Navy and a real estate agent.
George graduated from Campion High School, a Jesuit boarding school in Prairie di Chien, Wisconsin. After being expelled from Notre Dame University in his junior year ("I basically quit and didn't inform the university"), George attended a Jesuit prep school, Rockhurst College, in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated from Rockhurst with a B.A. in economics.in 1971. He then headed to Europe for about three years. When he returned home, he decided to become a comedic actor. He attended several workshops and was accepted by the touring company of Second City, the famed comedy troupe that was based in his hometown. In 1975, George was promoted to the resident company.
"I did mostly slice-of-life things," he remarked to the Los Angeles-Harold-Examiner in 1983. "You make it sound real. If people stop believing you, you're just telling jokes. I don't try to punch it up or joke it up."
After six years with Second City, George appeared in two 1980 films: My Bodyguard and Somewhere in Time. In 1981, George guest-starred in episodes of several TV series, including Hart to Hart, Soap, Taxi and Alice. In the Taxi episode, entitled "Latka the Playboy" (Season 3, Episode 20. Air Date: May 21, 1981), George played an exterminator. The episode was written by Glen and Les Charles and directed by James Burrows, the soon-to-be creators of Cheers.
Below is a photo of George Wendt with Danny Devito in a scene from Taxi.
In 1982, George landed his first role as a regular on a television series. He played Gus Bertoia, a physical education teacher, on the short-lived CBS sitcom
Making the Grade.
Making the Grade was set at Franklin High School in St. Louis. It aired as part of CBS' Monday night comedy lineup, but was cancelled after just six episodes. However, the quick cancellation of
Making the Grade allowed George to star in
Cheers, which debuted just four months after the first episode of
Making the Grade was broadcast.
Cheers became one of the most beloved sitcoms in American television history and George enjoyed the TV role of a lifetime. His character, Norm Peterson, was a staple on the show. An accountant by trade, Norm had an easy going, ordinary guy person. He lost his job throwing a company party after organizing a company party at Cheers and asking bar waitress Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) to be his boss's date. Norm later became a house painter, an interior decorator and, eventually, a beer taster at a brewery, where he fit in quite well.
Viewers could always count on Norm to walk through the door at Cheers and greet everyone with his familiar "Afternoon everybody," The one word response was always "Norm!" Norm was a fixture at the friendly Boston bar where, as the theme song proclaimed, "everybody knows your name."
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| Cliff (left) and Norm |
Norm was usually accompanied at the bar by Cliff Clavin, played by John Ratzenberger. Cliff, a postal worker, was Norm's best friend. Ratzenberger had suggested that the producers create a bar know-it-all character. They came up with Cliff, who was known for his trademark white socks in honour of French comic actor Jacques Tati.
Cliff was not scripted in the pilot episode of Cheers. "Give Me a Ring Sometime." John Ratzenberger and George Wendt both originally auditioned for a minor character named "George." Wendt won the role and "George" evolved into Norm Peterson.
Cheers ended its run after 11 successful seasons, mainly because the show's star, Ted Danson, who played bartender and former Boston Red Sox pitcher, Sam Malone, decided to leave. Danson felt it was the right time to say goodbye so that he could pursue other acting opportunities.
George played himself in a 1992 episode of Seinfeld entitled "The Trip: Part 1, Season 4, Episode 1, Air Date: August 12, 1992), in which Jerry is asked to perform on The Tonight Show in Los Angeles.
After Cheers, George became a frequent guest star in a variety of TV shows. He appeared on The Larry Sanders Show {1994), The Martin Short Show (1994), and made-for-television films such as Columbo: Strange Bedfellows (1995), Shame II: The Secret (1985) and Bye Bye Birdie (1995).
In 1995, George starred in his own sitcom, The George Wendt Show. He and Pat Finn played George and Dan Coleman, bachelor siblings who operated an auto-repair business in Madison, Wisconsin. The sires was short-lived and only eight episodes were produced.
George played himself in a 1996 episode of Good Company.. He guest-starred in an episode of the Michael J. Fox series Spin City (1996) and he had a recurring role as Les Polanski in 13 episodes of The Naked Truth (1997). He appeared in TV movies such as The Price of Heaven (1997) and Alice in Wonderland (1999).
A prolific actor, George Wendt continued to work throughout the 2000s. He reprised his role of Norm in a 2002 episode of Frasier (a spinoff of Cheers). He portrayed Ned Frank in a 2008 episode of The Goldbergs. From 2008 until 2022, he voiced Grandpa Frank in 11 episodes of the animated series Fancy Nancy. He played Santa in all five episodes of the 2023 series What the Elf.. George's last television credit is his appearance in a 2024 TV movie entitled Love's Second Act.
On July 8, 1978, George married actress Bernadette Birkett. They met while performing with Second City. It was Bernadette who provided the offscreen voice for Norm's unseen wife, Vera. Only her feet were revealed. Viewers did see her face once, but it was covered with pie. Bernadette was actually seen onscreen in a Season 3 episode of Cheers in which she played Cliff's Halloween date
George and Bernadette had three children together: daughter Hilary (born in 1985), and sons Joe (1987) and Daniel (1990). George was also a stepfather to Joshua and Andrew, Bernadette's sons from a previous marriage.
George was uncle and godfather to actor Jason Sudeikis. star of Ted Lasso, a sports comedy-drama on Apple TV+. Jason is the son of George's sister, Kathy.
On May 20, 2025, George Wendt died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles. According to his death certificate obtained by TMZ, the cause of death was cardiac arrest. He was 76 years old at the time of his passing. As a tribute to George, the real life Cheers Beacon Hill bar set up a memorial in area of the bar where his character sat on the show.
END NOTES
* While Cheers was still on the air, George Wendt began appearing on Saturday Night Live in a segment called "Swerski's Superfans." He created a character named Bob Swerski, a diehard Chicago sports fan who gathered with other "superfams" at Coach Mike Ditka's Chicago restaurant to watch the Bears. As
a native of the Windy City, George himself was a staunch supporter of all Chicago sports teams, He appeared in eight episodes of SNL from 1991 to 2003.
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| George on SNL as Chicago superfan |
* In 1994, George voiced a cartoon Norm on
The Simpsons. He also voiced an animated version of Norm on two episodes of
Family Guy.
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| Cheers on The Simpsons |
* George played the grumpy father of a son who like loud music (Macaulay Culkin) in Michael Jackson's 1991 "Black or White" music video.
* For six consecutive years (1984-1989), George received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal of Norm Peterson. However, he lost to Pat Harrington Jr. (One Day at a Time) in 1984, to John Larroquette (Night Court) from 1985-1988, and to his Cheers castmate Woody Harrelson in 1989.
* Not surprisingly, George appeared in beer commercials for Miller Lite and Meister Brau.
* In addition to
My Bodyguard (1980) and
Somewhere in Time (1980), George appeared in several other feature films, including
Dreamscape (1984),
House (1985),
Fletch (1985,
Gung Ho (1986),
Plains Clothes (1987),
Never Say Die (1988),
Guilty by Suspicion (1991),
Forever Young (1992) and
Spice World (1997).
SOURCES: The Hollywood Reporter, "George Wendt, the Beer-loving Norm on 'Cheers,' Dies at 76," by Mike Barnes, Duane Byrge,, May 20, 2025; Looper (www.looper.com). "Whatever happened to Norm from Cheers," by Jane Harkness, October 1, 2019; Screen Rant (screeenrant.com), "Why Cheers Ended After 11 (Was it canceled?)," by Greg MacArthur, June 5, 2023; Wikipedia; Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
- Joanne
