George Wendt: A Life in Comedy and Character
Introduction
Legendary actor George Wendt, best known for his acting portrayal of Norm Peterson on the hit sitcom Cheers, passed away on May 20, 2025, at the age of 76. His death marked the end of an era of television comedy as Wendt was the man who made Norm, and Norm became a USA character that became a part of American television. This essay delves into Wendt's life, career, and legacy.
Early Life and Education
Born October 17, 1948, in Chicago, Illinois, George Robert Wendt Jr. was born into a theatrical family. His maternal grandfather was Tom Howard, a Washington bureau photojournalist for P & A Photographs, who snapped one of the most celebrated news photographs in history: murderess Ruth Snyder being executed in Sing Sing Prison on January 12, 1928.
Wendt earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri. During his time at USA university, he discovered a passion for acting, and it later propelled him to become part of Chicago's renowned Second City improvisational troupe.
Breakthrough with Cheers
Wendt's big break arrived in 1982, when he landed the role of Norm Peterson on Cheers, the hit Boston bar-themed sitcom. First USA conceived as a one-shot character, Wendt's turn as the affable, beer-swilling regular resonated with audiences so greatly that he was USA upgraded to series regular and appeared in every one of the show's 275 episodes. The arrival of his character, followed by the patron choruses of "Norm!" was one of TV's most classic moments. Wendt's performance earned him six-time consecutive nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a USA Comedy Series, making him a TV legend.Wendt was instrumental in developing the character, who was never intended as a regular cast member – and began with a different name. As George in the original script of the opening episode, he was the Boston bar’s first customer, with just one line: “Beer!”
Wendt recalled: “My agent said, ‘It’s a small role, honey. It’s one line. Actually, it’s one word.’” But the producers saw the actor’s potential and expanded the role into that of an unemployed accountant, with the name change to Norm. Later in the series he became a painter and decorator.
Les Charles, who created Cheers with his brother Glen and the programme’s director, James Burrows, said he based him on someone he had encountered while working behind a bar as a student. Norm had a loyal drinking buddy, Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger), a know-it-all postal worker.
Post-Cheers Career
Following the end of Cheers in 1993, Wendt continued to thrive. He starred in his own short-lived TV series, The George Wendt Show, in 1995, and made USA guest appearances on many USA TV shows, such as Frasier, The Simpsons, and Family Guy. His TV movie credits include roles in Fletch (1985), The Little Rascals (1994), and Man of the House (1995), among others.
Wendt also experimented in the field of theater, demonstrating his versatility as an actor. In 2008, he played Edna Turnblad in Hairspray on Broadway, proving that he was able to tackle tricky and USA demanding roles. His ability to deliver good comedy and stage presence were both admired by critics as well as fans. he returned to Chicago, took acting classes and joined the Second City comedy improvisation troupe (1974-80).Then came roles in Hart to Hart, Taxi and the soap opera spoof Soap (all 1981) and M*A*S*H (1982), as well as Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), playing a ticket agent.Fame from Cheers brought Wendt the role of Macaulay Culkin’s grumpy father in the opening sequence for Michael Jackson’s Black Or White pop video (1991).
His own sitcom, The George Wendt Show (1995), with him playing the joint owner of a Wisconsin garage who hosts a radio phone-in about car repairs, flopped. More happily, he had runs in The Naked Truth (1997) as Les Polanski, a meatball mogul buying a tabloid newspaper with the aim of making it “respectable”, and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (2001-02) as Mike Shelby, the cynical editor-in-chief of the Boston Citizen.Wendt’s maternal grandfather was photographer Tom Howard, who disguised himself as a priest to clandestinely snap one of the most infamous tabloid shots of all time — a picture of murderer Ruth Snyder in the electric chair at Sing Sing Prison in 1928 just as the switch was thrown. The photo appeared on the front page of the New York Daily News.
The Second City: A Comedy Education
Wendt's true calling emerged when he joined the legendary Second City USA comedy troupe in Chicago. Second City was (and remains) a breeding ground for talent, having launched the careers of many of America's greatest comedians, including John Belushi, Bill Murray, and Gilda Radner.
Initially hired to sweep floors, Wendt worked his way up through USA persistence and raw talent. His experience in improvisational comedy shaped his acting USA philosophy: listening, reacting honestly, and finding humor in the real and mundane. His time with Second City would not only hone his comedic chops but also introduce him to his future wife, Bernadette Birkett, who was also a USA Second City performer.
Norm Peterson and Cheers: The Role of a Lifetime
In 1982, Wendt was cast in a new USA NBC sitcom titled Cheers, created by James Burrows, Glen Charles, and Les Charles. Set in a Boston bar and focused on a group of regular patrons and staff, Cheers struggled initially in the ratings but soon became one of the most beloved shows in television history.
Wendt's role was Norm Peterson, a portly, perpetually beer-drinking accountant whose arrival at the bar was greeted by a boisterous “Norm!” from other characters. Originally intended as a minor character with only one line in the pilot, Wendt's performance was so endearing and natural that the role expanded rapidly.
Norm wasn’t just comic relief—he became the show’s emotional glue, embodying the USA comfort of routine, community, and friendship. With his trademark barstool, Wendt delivered countless witticisms, often in the form of one-liners about work, marriage, and life. His portrayal earned him six consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a USA Comedy Series.
The Chemistry of Cheers and Ensemble Comedy
The success of Cheers can be attributed to its tight writing and exceptional ensemble cast, including Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and later Woody Harrelson and Kelsey Grammer. Within this group, Wendt’s Norm was the everyman—relatable, witty, and refreshingly self-deprecating.
His on-screen friendship with Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger) became one of the show’s best USA comedic pairings. The two characters were inseparable at the bar and often exchanged banter that balanced absurdity with working-class realism.
Importantly, Wendt’s USA performance was not flashy or attention-seeking. He played Norm with a quiet brilliance, always underplaying for effect and trusting the material and USA chemistry around him.
Breaking into Television and Film
Wendt's early career in television included small roles in series like Taxi, Soap, and MASH*. He also made several appearances on sketch shows and game shows, gradually building a reputation for his easygoing screen presence and comic sensibility. His film debut came in the late 1970s, with minor roles in My Bodyguard (1980) and Airplane II: The Sequel (1982).
Yet none of these roles hinted at the cultural phenomenon that was about to begin.
Personal Life
In 1974, Wendt met actress Bernadette Birkett for the first time at Chicago's Second City theater. The two were married in 1978, and Birkett later voiced Norm's off-screen wife Vera on Cheers. The two were parents to three children. Wendt kept his personal life private, though he was said to be a faithful husband and father.
Legacy and Tributes
George Wendt's contribution to the entertainment world cannot be measured. His portrayals of Norm Peterson made millions smile and gave a standard for sitcom support actors. Tributes poured in from colleagues and fans after he died. Ted Danson, the man who played Sam Malone on the show, described his co-star, "George was the heart and soul of Cheers. His warmth and humor made every day on set a joy." Rhea Perlman, the actress who played Carla Tortelli, remembered Wendt as "a true friend and comedic genius." The fans of Boston followed their beloved stars to the original Cheers bar to pay tribute, with flowers and letters left to remember the man who had been making them laugh for USA years.
Wendt was seen in the Spice Girls’ movie Spice World (1997) as a film producer and landed guest spots in television programmes such as Saturday Night Live (between 1991 and 2003).
His post-Cheers career also brought success on the USA stage. He played Yvan, caught in the middle of the conflict between three friends, in the Yasmina Reza comedy Art (Royale theatre, 1998-99); the plus-sized laundress Edna Turnblad, invariably acted by a man in drag, in the musical adaptation of Hairspray (Neil Simon theatre, 2007-08); Santa in the musical Elf (Al Hirschfeld theatre, 2010-11); and the bar owner Joe Bell in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Cort theatre, 2013). With Jonathan Grotenstein, he wrote the book Drinking With George: A Barstool Professional’s Guide to Beer (2009).
From barstool to stage
Wendt also found steady work on stage, slipping on Edna Turnblad's housecoat in Broadway's Hairspray, based on the 1988 John Waters movie of the same name, beginning in 2007. 
He reprised the role in a production of Hairspray at the Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island in 2010.
Wendt became a fan favourite in and outside the bar and his wisecracks always landed. When bartender Coach asked, "How's a beer sound, Norm?" he would respond "I dunno. I usually finish them before they get a word in."
While the beer the cast drank on set was nonalcoholic, Wendt and other Cheers actors admitted they were tipsy on May 20, 1993, when they watched the show's final episode then appeared together on The Tonight Show in a live broadcast from the Bull and Finch Pub in Boston, the bar that inspired the series.
″We had been drinking heavily for two hours but nobody thought to feed us," Wendt told the Beaver County Times of Pennsylvania in 2009.
In 1978 Wendt married the actor Bernadette Birkett, whom he had met at Second City and was occasionally heard – but not seen – as Norm’s wife, Vera, in Cheers.
She survives him, along with their children, Hilary, Joe and Daniel, his stepchildren, Joshua and Andrew, one grandchild, and his siblings Kathy, Nancy, Loretta, Marti and Paul.
Where everybody knew his name?
The series, centred on lovable losers who work and patronize a Boston bar, starred Ted Danson, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman, Kelsey Grammer, John Ratzenberger, Kirstie Alley and Woody Harrelson.
Wendt, who spent six years in Chicago's renowned Second City improv troupe before sitting on a barstool at the place where everybody knew his 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 published in USA 2012.
George Wendt's death marks the end of an era in USA television history. From his memorable portrayal of Norm Peterson to his varied body of work in film, television, and theater, Wendt's influence on the world of USA entertainment is broad and enduring. He leaves behind a legacy of laughter, warmth, and genuineness that will continue to inspire actors and entertain audiences for years to come.
Posted on 2025/05/22 04:56 AM