George Wendt
George Robert Wendt Jr. was an American actor. He played Norm Peterson on the NBC sitcom Cheers from 1982 to 1993, which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series]. After Cheers ended, he starred in his own short-lived CBS sitcom, The George Wendt Show.
Wendt also appeared in the comedy films Airplane II: The Sequel, No Small Affair, Fletch, The Little Rascals, Man [of the House |Man of the House], Spice World, Outside Providence, and Sandy Wexler, and the dramas Somewhere in Time, Dreamscape, Guilty by Suspicion, Forever Young, Lakeboat, and The Climb.
On television, Wendt had supporting and recurring roles on the series Making the Grade, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Fancy Nancy. He had guest roles on Saturday Night Live, Columbo, The Twilight Zone, Frasier, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Portlandia. On stage, he appeared on Broadway playing Edna Turnblad in the musical comedy Hairspray in 2008.
Early life and education
George Robert Wendt Jr. was born in the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Loretta Mary and George Robert Wendt Sr., an officer in the U.S. Navy and a realtor. He was one of nine children, with six sisters—Kathryn, Loretta, Marti, Nancy, Karen, and Mary Ann—as well as two brothers, Tom and Paul. Their maternal grandfather was photographer Tom Howard. Wendt was of Irish and one quarter German descent. George Sr.'s side of the family was from Danzig while Loretta's relatives were from County Mayo. All four grandparents were born in Cook County, Illinois. Wendt was an uncle of actor and former Saturday Night Live writer and cast member Jason Sudeikis, his sister Kathryn's son.Wendt graduated from Campion High School, a Jesuit boarding school in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Notre Dame until he was expelled after receiving a 0.00 GPA during the first semester of his junior year. Wendt recalled in 2016 "I basically quit and didn't inform the university. I'd moved off campus my junior year, and I didn't think it through. I didn't have a car. It was cold. I never went to class." He later attended Roosevelt University before transferring to the Jesuit-affiliated Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, from which he graduated in 1971 with a B.A. in economics.
Career
1975–1981: Second City and early roles
Wendt was a 1975 alumnus of The Second City, which he discovered shortly after college. A viewing had inspired him to join and on his first day of employment, he showed up promptly at 11:30 a.m. as he was instructed. The woman working there handed him a broom and said "Welcome to the theater, kid"; thus, his first job in show business was sweeping the floors. Second City, located in Chicago, was also where he met his future wife, Bernadette Birkett, who played Cliff's Halloween date in the third season of Cheers and later in the series played the voice of Norm's never-seen wife, Vera.Wendt appeared in the 1980 films My Bodyguard and Somewhere In Time, and had small roles in the TV series Taxi, Soap, and M*A*S*H. In 1982, Wendt landed his first role as a series regular on the CBS sitcom Making the Grade, which was created by Gary David Goldberg. The series was canceled after six episodes in the spring of that year.
1982–1993: Breakthrough with ''Cheers''
From 1982 to 1993, Wendt appeared as Norm Peterson in all 275 episodes of Cheers. For his work on Cheers, Wendt earned six Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He also played the role in the short-lived spin-off The Tortellis, in an episode of Wings, and in an episode of another Cheers spin-off, Frasier. Wendt, playing the character Norm, made a prominent entrance to the Cheers bar in nearly every episode, being greeted by a cheer of "Norm!" and making a wisecrack as he walked to his barstool. This regular bit of business was a highlight of the show. Disparaging references to the character's wife, Vera, and the wretched state of his life were other running gags. Host International licensed the characters of Norm and Cliff to create animatronic robot likenesses in their airport bars. The actors sued for infringement of their publicity rights in Wendt v. Host International. The case was initially dismissed as the likeness to the actors was not strong but this was reversed on appeal.Wendt's first appearance on Saturday Night Live was in a season 11 episode where he shared hosting duties with director Francis Ford Coppola. His film appearances during this time included Airplane II: The Sequel, Dreamscape, No Small Affair, Fletch, House, and Gung Ho. In 1988, he played the part of "Witten" in the New Zealand-made film, Never Say Die. In the early 1990s, Wendt made cameo appearances on several episodes of SNL as Bob Swerski, one of the Chicago Superfans. In 1989, Wendt appeared as the eponymous protagonist in a BBC TV dramatization of Ivan Goncharov's novel Oblomov. He also appeared twice on the original British edition of Whose Line Is It Anyway? In 1991, Wendt played the father in Michael Jackson's music video "Black or White". He had roles opposite Robert De Niro in 1991's Guilty by Suspicion and with Mel Gibson in 1992's Forever Young. In 1992, he appeared onstage in Chicago at the Body Politic Theatre in a musical satire called Wild Men, and played the same role in New York in 1993.
1994–1999: Post-''Cheers''
Following his success on Cheers, Wendt starred in the short-lived The George Wendt Show, which featured him as a garage mechanic with a radio show, based on the NPR radio show Car Talk.''The George Wendt Show aired from March through April 1995. Wendt also appeared on The Larry Sanders Show as a guest on the show. Wendt starred as the killer in one of the last episodes of the TV series Columbo, portraying a thoroughbred horse owner in the 1995 episode List of [Columbo episodes#Season 10 and specials|Strange Bedfellows]. Wendt appeared as himself on Seinfeld and reprised the character Norm Peterson on The Simpsons episode "Fear of Flying", two episodes of Family Guy, "Road to Rupert" and "Three Kings", and the Frasier episode "Cheerful Goodbyes". In the same year as his Frasier guest appearance, Wendt played the bartender to Ted Danson's character in Becker. In 1994, he played the Lumber store guy in the film The Little Rascals. In 1995, he appeared in the film House |Man of the House] as Chet Bronski, the stepfather of Norman, starring with Chevy Chase, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and Farrah Fawcett. He also portrayed Martin Barnfield in the Spice Girls' movie Spice World, and played the role of Old Man Dunphy's closeted homosexual friend Joey in the 1999 film Outside Providence.In early 1997, Wendt joined the cast of the NBC sitcom The Naked Truth as Les Polonsky, the new owner of the celebrity tabloid where the series' main characters worked. Wendt's role only lasted 13 episodes as The Naked Truth underwent further creative changes for its next season. In 1998, Wendt was one of the three characters in a London West End production of
2000–2024: Broadway roles and other work
In 2000, he played First Mate Collins in the film Lakeboat. In 2003, Wendt appeared as a celebrity fisherman in the music video for Cobra Verde's "Riot Industry" along with Rudy Ray Moore and The Minutemen's Mike Watt. He appeared in several episodes of ABC's Sabrina, The Teenage Witch in 2001 as the title character's boss. He also was the host of the A&E reality show House of Dreams in 2004. In January 2006, Wendt was seen again on television screens as part of the cast of Modern Men.In 2006, Wendt made several appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien where he performed short skits. His appearances on Late Night were in all likelihood because the show was having a week-long event in his home town of Chicago. He starred in a 2006 episode of Masters of Horror entitled "Family", directed by John Landis, and played Santa Claus in the ABC Family original film Santa Baby. Wendt performed alongside Richard Thomas in Twelve Angry Men in October 2006 in the Eisenhower Theater in Washington, D.C.. After the show opened, Wendt was interviewed by local film critic Arch Campbell for a piece on the NBC Washington affiliate WRC-TV. Wendt was asked, "What should people do when they see you around town?" After hesitating for a moment, Wendt held his thumbs up and replied, "If their impulse is to buy me a beer, then by all means, follow that impulse." In spring 2007, Wendt performed in 12 Angry Men in Los Angeles. Wendt appeared as an American GI in the 2007 Christmas Special episode of British sitcom The [Green Green Grass].
In 2008 he starred in the Broadway musical Hairspray as the character of Edna Turnblad. He appeared with his former Cheers co-star John Ratzenberger as a talent scout on Last Comic Standing during Season 6. He briefly appeared as Santa Claus in A Colbert Christmas: [The Greatest Gift of All!]. He also appeared in the 2008 horror film Bryan Loves You directed by Seth Landau.
On October 1, 2009, Wendt appeared on The Colbert Report the day before the IOC announced which city will host the 2016 Summer Olympics. In their way of supporting Chicago's bid for the games, Wendt and Stephen Colbert humorously insulted the three other bidding cities, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, and Tokyo, all while drinking Chicago's favorite Old Style Beer. In 2009, Wendt starred as Santa Claus in Santa Buddies and also had a small role in the film Opposite Day.
Wendt appeared in a production of Hairspray, reprising his role as Edna Turnblad, from September 8 to October 9, 2010, at the Charlottetown Festival in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Wendt played Santa in Elf the Musical on Broadway. The show opened November 14, 2010, and ran through January 2, 2011. Wendt starred in a production of Hairspray as Edna Turnblad at Rainbow Stage in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, from August 2, 2011, to August 21, 2011. Wendt also guest-starred in the TV series Hot In Cleveland as Yoder, based on his character Norm in Cheers. His first of two scenes took place in an Amish bar, where everyone in the bar yelled "Yoder!", referencing what the cast of Cheers would yell whenever he walked in.
Wendt was among the thespians who participated in a poster campaign touting live theatre in Chicago. Other celebrities who were involved included John Mahoney, John Malkovich, Terry Kinney, and Martha Plimpton. Wendt appeared in a cameo as a newspaper reporter on Portlandia on January 25, 2013. Wendt played the role of Pap in the 2013 Hank Williams bio musical Lost Highway at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn, New York.
Beginning in the fall of 2013, Wendt appeared in a television commercial for State Farm Insurance. Wendt and Robert Smigel reprised their roles from SNL as the Chicago Superfans, who encounter quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The commercial continued the theme of State Farm commercials featuring Rodgers, using the "discount doublecheck" slogan.
From November 6, 2013, to January 19, 2014, Wendt starred in Never Too Late, a comedy with his wife, actress Bernadette Birkett, at New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas. In this play, Wendt portrayed a successful lumber yard owner who is king of his castle and whose life is going exactly the way he wants until his wife comes back from a doctor's appointment with some big news. In 2015, Wendt starred opposite his former Second City co-star Tim Kazurinsky in Bruce Graham's new comedy Funnyman at Northlight Theatre. The same year, Wendt appeared in the TBS sitcom Clipped, which aired for one season. Wendt appeared as Tracy Turnblad's mother in a production of Hairspray featuring John Waters and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore, Maryland in June 2016.
Wendt starred in The Fabulous Lipitones at New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas, from November 30, 2016, to February 12, 2017. Wendt starred as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman at St. Jacob's Country Playhouse in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, from October 18 to November 4, 2017. His later films included the comedies Sandy Wexler and The Climb.
In 2023, Wendt competed in season nine of The Masked Singer as "Moose" where he was mostly sitting during the performance. He was eliminated on 80s Night" alongside Christine Quinn of Selling Sunset fame as "Scorpio".
In January 2024, Wendt reunited with most of the Cheers cast at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards, presenting the awards for best directing and best writing of a comedy series.
Personal life and death
In 1974, Wendt met actress Bernadette Birkett at the Second City theater in Chicago. They married in 1978 and Birkett later voiced his off-screen wife, Vera, in Cheers. The couple had three children: Hilary, Joe, and Daniel.Wendt died in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, on May 20, 2025, at the age of 76, from cardiac arrest. Contributing conditions included congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, and hypertension. He also had end-stage renal disease and hyperlipidemia.
Several of his Cheers co-stars offered remembrances of him including Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman, and John Ratzenberger. Others who paid tribute to him included Melissa Joan Hart, Eric Allan Kramer, Bill Simmons, Joe Mantegna, Robert Smigel and his nephew Jason Sudeikis. The real life Cheers Beacon Hill bar honored Wendt by setting up a memorial in the area of the bar where his character sat. Chicago honored him with a "George Wendt Way" designation on the block where he grew up.