The Late Great George Wendt

George Wendt, best known as beer-loving accountant Norm Peterson on the classic sitcom Cheers, died today in his sleep at the age of 76. Coincidentally, today is also the 32nd anniversary of the series finale of Cheers.

George Wendt was born on October 17 1948, in Chicago. He attended Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He attended Notre Dame University until his junior year. As he told the Kansas City Star in 2016, "I basically quit and didn't inform the university." He worked for his father for a time before he received a Bachelor of Arts from  Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri. He travelled through Europe for around two years before returning to the United States and deciding to become an actor.

In 1975, George Wendt joined Second City, the famous Chicago improvisational comedy troupe. He was with them for six years before. He made his film debut in an uncredited role in The Wedding in 1978. He appeared in bit parts in Bronco Billy (1980), My Bodyguard (1980), and Somewhere in Time (1980).

George Wendt made his television debut in an episode of Hart to Hart in 1981. He guest-starred on the shows Soap, Taxi, Alice, and M*A*S*H. He was a regular on the short-lived sitcom Making the Grade before he was cast as Norm Peterson on the sitcom Cheers. Norm easily proved to be one of the show's most popular characters, and he remained with the sitcom for all of its eleven seasons. In the Eighties, George Wendt was one of the voices in TV specials based on the comic strip Garfield. He guest-starred on the shows of M*A*S*H, The Twilight Zone, Saturday Night Live, and Day by Day. Beyond Cheers, he made appearances as Norm on St. Elsewhere. The  Tortellis, the TV special Mickey's 60th Birthday, and The Earth Day Special. He appeared in the movies Jekyll and Hyde...Together Again (1982), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), Young Lust (1984), Dreamscape (1984), Thief of Hearts (1984), No Small Affair (1984), Fletch (1985), House  (1985), Gung Ho (1986),  Plain Clothes  (1988), Never Say Die (1988), and Masters of Menace (1990).

In the Nineties, George Wendt continued to appear on Cheers. He was the star of the short-lived The George Wendt Show, and he had a regular role on the short-lived sitcom The Naked Truth. He had a recurring role on Madigan Men.  He appeared as Norm Petersen on The Simpsons and as himself on Seinfeld, Bob, and The Larry Sanders Show. He guest-starred on the shows Tales from the Crypt, Roc, The Edge, The Building, Columbo, Spin City, Whose Line Is It Anyway, and The List. George Wendt also appeared in the TV movies Bye Bye Birdie and Alice in Wonderland. He appeared in the movies Guilty by Suspicion (1991), Forever Young (1992), Hostage for a Day (1994), The Little Rascals (1994), Man of the House (1995), Space Truckers (1996), The Lovemaster (1997), Spice World (1997), Anarchy TV (1998), Dennis the Menace Strikes Again (!998), Rupert's Land (1998), Outside Providence (1999), Garage: A Rock Saga (2000), Lakeboat (2000), The Prime Gig (2000), and Wild About Harry. He appeared on Broadway in Art.

In the Naughts, George Wendt had a recurring role on Sabrina the Teenage Witch. He was a regular on the short-lived sitcom Modern Men. He appeared as Norm on Frasier and in two episodes of Family Guy. He guest-starred on the shows Becker, Rock Me Baby, George Lopez, Masters of Horror, The Green Green Grass, Cubed, Less Than Kind, and Ghost Whisperer. He appeared in the movies Teddy Bears' Picnic (2002), My Dinner with Jimi (2003), King of the Ants (2003), Edmond (2005), Kids in America (2005), The Life Coach (2005), LA Blues (2007), Saturday Morning (2007), Clean Break (2008), Bryan Loves You (2008), Unnatural Causes (2008), Opposite Day (2009), and Santa Buddies (2009). He appeared on Broadway in Hairspray and Elf.

In the Teens, George Wendt had a recurring role on the sitcom Clipped. He appeared as himself on several episodes of the adult puppet show Let's Be Real. He was the voice of Grandpa Frank on the animated show Fancy Nancy. He guest-starred on the shows Hot in Cleveland, Harry's Law, Kickin' It, Portlandia, Kristie, Verdene and Gleneda, Franklin & Bash, Comedy Bang! Bang!, Childrens Hospital, Bill Nye Saves the World, Fresh Off the Boat, Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell, Peyton's Places, and The Goldbergs. He appeared in the movies Sandy Wexler (2017), The Independents (2018), Grand-Daddy Day Care (2019), Bliss (2019), The Climb (2019), VFW (2019), Aliens, Clowns & Geeks (2019), and Stealing a Survivor (2020). In the Twenties, he was a regular on the series What the Elf?. He appeared in the movies Americanish (2021) and Christmas with the Campbells (2022).

In my humble opinion, Norm Petersen is one of the all-time greatest characters in the history of American television. Norm was known for his one-liners, and no one could have delivered them better than George Wendt. Norm was a clever, self-deprecating everyman, and George Wendt was perfect in the role, so much so that it is impossible to think of Norm as being played by anyone else. Of course, George Wendt played many other characters beyond Norm. In a series of sketches on Saturday Night Live, he played Chicago Bears superfan Bob Swerski. In the movie Dreamscape he played horror novelist Charlie Prince, who has the bad luck of stumbling upon the dreamscape project. In the movie Fletch he played the drug dealer Fat Sam. In the horror comedy House he played Harold Gorton, the neighbor and fan of author Roger Cobb (William Katt). In No Small Affair he played a role about as far from Norm as one could get, the lecherous rock club owner Jake. George Wendt was an incredible talent who played one of the greatest characters in television history as well as a number of great roles. Everybody will always know his name.