‘Cheers’ Star George Wendt Dies at 76

George Wendt, best known as Norm Peterson on Cheers, has died at the age of 76.

According to the actor’s family, he died peacefully in his sleep on the morning of Tuesday, May 20. His death was confirmed by a representative who shared a statement. “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend, and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during this time.”

In addition to being one of the regular bar patrons on the NBC comedy, Wendt is also famously the uncle of comedy star Jason Sudeikis. During his years on Cheers, Wendt was nominated for six Emmys for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy, and he delighted viewers across 11 seasons of the sitcom, which aired between 1982 and 1993.

Originally hailing from Chicago, Wendt earned his degree in economics after traveling in Europe and North Africa as a young man. He then returned to the Windy City to enroll in the Second City comedy troupe’s acting workshop, for which he performed from 1974 to 1980. He went on to feature in the NBC comedy pilot Nothing But Comedy, which brought him to Los Angeles and landed him his feature debut with My Bodyguard.

NBC / Courtesy: Everett Collection

After he found widespread success with Cheers, Wendt went on to star in films like Dreamscape, Fletch, and Ron Howard‘s Gung Ho. Additionally, he starred alongside Robert De Niro and Annette Bening in Guilty By Suspicion, and had roles in the films Forever Young, Man of the House, and The LoveMaster.

Despite his movie roles, Wendt is still best known for his television work, which, outside of Cheers, included The George Wendt Show on CBS and The Naked Truth on NBC. He also featured in the Fox movie Hostage for a Day, ABC‘s 1995 remake of Bye Bye Birdie, Showtime’s Roger Corman Presents Alien Avengers, and much more.

He was hailed for his performance in CBS’s 1997 title The Price of Heaven, which saw him play the owner of a firm that sells funeral insurance. In recent years, he featured in various guest roles on TV with parts in Hot in Cleveland, Portlandia, and The Goldbergs. His last TV performance was in Season 9 of The Masked Singer, upon which he competed as the Moose.

Wendt leaves behind his wife, actress Bernadette Birkett, whom he married in 1978, as well as his children, Hilary, Joe, and Daniel, in addition to step-sons Joshua and Andrew. As mentioned above, he’s the uncle of Ted Lasso and Saturday Night Live favorite Jason Sudeikis, who is the son of his sister, Kathryn.