George Wendt

George Wendt
Wendt at the 41st Primetime Emmy Awards in September 1989
Born	George Robert Wendt Jr. (1948-10-17) October 17, 1948 (age 76) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Alma mater	Rockhurst University (BA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1978–present
Known for	Norm Peterson in Cheers
Spouse	Bernadette Birkett ​ (m. 1978)​
Children	3
Relatives	Tom Howard (grandfather) Jason Sudeikis (nephew)

George Robert Wendt Jr. (born October 17, 1948)^[1] is an American actor. He is best known for playing Norm Peterson on the NBC sitcom Cheers (1982–1993), which earned him six consecutive nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. After Cheers ended in 1993, he starred in his own sitcom, The George Wendt Show (1995), but it was cancelled after only a few episodes. Wendt also appeared in the films Airplane II: The Sequel (1982), No Small Affair (1984), Fletch (1985), The Little Rascals (1994), Spice World (1997), Outside Providence (1999), Santa Buddies (2009), and Sandy Wexler (2017).

Early life

George Robert Wendt Jr. was born in the Beverly neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Loretta Mary (née Howard) and George Robert Wendt, an officer in the Navy and a realtor. He is one of nine children, with six sisters—Nancy, Karen, Mary Ann, Kathryn, Loretta, and Marti—as well as two brothers, Tom and Paul.^[2][3] His maternal grandfather was photographer Tom Howard.^[3] Wendt is of Irish and one quarter German descent.^[4]

He attended Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.^[5] He was expelled from the University of Notre Dame after he received a 0.00 GPA the first semester of his junior year. He later attended the Jesuit Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, where he graduated with a B.A. in economics in 1971.^[6][7]

Wendt is an uncle of actor and former SNL writer and cast member Jason Sudeikis, his sister Kathryn's son.^[8]

Career

Early career

Wendt is 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.^[9] 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.^[10]

Wendt appeared in the 1980 film My Bodyguard, 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.

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.

Post-Cheers

Wendt's handprints in concrete, in front of Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park

His first appearance on Saturday Night Live was in a season 11 (1985–1986) episode where he shared hosting duties with director Francis Ford Coppola. 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 (along with cast members Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Robert Smigel, and one-time host, Joe Mantegna). Having grown up as a lifelong fan of his hometown Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bears, Wendt's Bob Swerski character is said to be a "spot-on" characterization of Chicago's south-side citizens.

In 1989, Wendt appeared as the eponymous protagonist in a BBC TV dramatization of Ivan Goncharov's novel Oblomov. He has 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.

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 starred as the killer in one of the last episodes of the TV series Columbo, portraying a thoroughbred horse owner in the 1995 episode Strange Bedfellows. Wendt appeared as himself on Seinfeld and has 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 (the inverse of their relationship on Cheers). In 1994, he appeared in the film Man of the House as Chet Bronski, the stepfather of Norman (Zachary Browne), and starred with Chevy Chase, Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Farrah Fawcett. He also 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 'Art' with David Dukes and Stacy Keach. He would later join the Broadway production of the play, starring alongside Judd Hirsch and Joe Morton.

In 2003, Wendt appeared as a celebrity fisherman in the music video for Cobra Verde's "Riot Industry" along with Rudy Ray Moore (of "Dolemite" fame) and The Minutemen's Mike Watt. He appeared in several episodes of The WB'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.

He has also appeared on The Larry Sanders Show as a guest on the show. 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 Theatre 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. 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."^[11] 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.

George starred in the Broadway musical Hairspray as the character of Edna Turnblad until November 2008. 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.

2010s

Wendt appeared in a production of Hairspray, reprising his role as Edna Turnblad, from September 8 to October 9, 2010,^[12] 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 is among the thespians who participated in a poster campaign touting live theatre in Chicago. Other celebrities included John Mahoney, John Malkovich, Terry Kinney, and Martha Plimpton. Wendt has a cameo as a newspaper reporter on Portlandia on January 25, 2013. Wendt was set to play the role of Pap in the Hank Williams bio musical Lost Highway at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn, New York.^{[citation needed][when?]}

Beginning in the fall of 2013, Wendt appeared in a television commercial for State Farm Insurance.^[13] Wendt and Robert Smigel reprise their roles from SNL as the Chicago Superfans, who encounter quarterback Aaron Rodgers.^[14] 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 plays 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 appointment with some big news.^[15]

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.^[16]

Wendt appeared as Tracy Turnblad's mother in a production of Hairspray featuring John Waters and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in Baltimore 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.^[17]

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.^[18]

2020s

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".

Personal life

Wendt is married to Bernadette Birkett and has three children: Hilary, Joe, and Daniel.^[19]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	A Wedding	Caterer	Uncredited[20]
1980	Bronco Billy	Bartender	Uncredited
	My Bodyguard	Engineer
	Somewhere In Time	Student #2
	The Gift of the Magi	Shopkeeper	Short film
1982	Jekyll and Hyde... Together Again	Injured Man
	Airplane II: The Sequel	Carry-on Baggage Attendant	Uncredited
1984	Young Lust	Avery Lumpig
	Dreamscape	Charlie Prince
	Thief of Hearts	Marty Morrison
	No Small Affair	Jake
1985	Fletch	Fat Sam
	House	Harold Gorton
1986	Gung Ho	Buster
1988	Plain Clothes	Chet Butler
	Never Say Die	Mr. Witten
1989	Cranium Command	Stomach	Short film
1990	Masters of Menace	Dr. Jack Erheart
1991	Guilty by Suspicion	Bunny Baxter
1992	Forever Young	Harry Finley
1994	Hostage for a Day	Warren Kooey
	The Little Rascals	Lumberyard Clerk
1995	Man of the House	Chet Bronski (Chief Running Horse)
1996	Space Truckers	Keller
1997	The Lovemaster	Therapist
	Spice World	Film Producer
1998	Anarchy TV	Abbey Archer
	Dennis the Menace Strikes Again	Policeman	Video; Uncredited[21]
	Rupert's Land	Ivan Bloat
1999	Outside Providence	Joey
2000	Garage: A Rock Saga	Pitching Coach
	Lakeboat	First Mate Collins
	The Prime Gig	Archie
	Wild About Harry	Frankie
2001	Prairie Dogs	Actor	Short film
	Odessa or Bust	The Chef
2002	Teddy Bears' Picnic	General Edison "Pete" Gerberding
2003	My Dinner with Jimi	Bill Uttley
	King of the Ants	Duke Wayne
2005	As Seen On TV	Donald	Short film
	Edmond	Pawn Shop Owner
	Kids in America	Coach Thompson
	The Life Coach	George
2007	LA Blues	Mickey
	Saturday Morning	Harold
2008	Clean Break	Chuck
	Bryan Loves You	Mr. Flynn
	Unnatural Causes	Chuck
2009	Opposite Day	Corporate Exec #1
	Santa Buddies	Santa Claus	Direct-to-DVD
2016	Wake Up America!	Richard
2017	Sandy Wexler	Testimonial
2018	The Independents	Eduardo
	Dream Flight	Randall	Short film
	Dr. Sugar	Marvin Saccharine
	The Deadbeat	The Great Kazoo
2019	Grand-Daddy Day Care	Big Lou	Direct-to-video
	The Climb	Jim
	I Lost My Body	Georges (voice)	English dub
	Bliss	Pops
	VFW	Thomas Zabriski
	Thank You Kindly	Neighbor Bradley Walden	Short film
2020	Stealing a Survivor	Mister Martin
2021	Americanish	Douglas Smarts
2022	Christmas with the Campbells	Robert Campbell

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Hart to Hart	Sgt. Tate	Episode: "Murder Is a Drag"
	Soap	Counterman	Episode #4.15
	Taxi	The Exterminator	Episode: "Latka the Playboy"
1982	Alice	Monty	Episode: "Monty Falls for Alice"
	Making the Grade	Gus Bertoia	Main role
	M*A*S*H	Pvt. La Roche	Episode: "Trick or Treatment"
1982–1993	Cheers	Norm Peterson	Main role, 275 episodes, also directed 1 episode
1983	Garfield on the Town	Ràoul (voice)	TV short
	Likely Stories, Vol. 4	Wary Witness	Television film
1984	Garfield in the Rough	Ranger #2 (voice)	TV short
	The Ratings Game	Mr. Sweeney	Television film
1985	The Romance of Betty Boop	Johnny Throat / Punchie (voice)	TV short
	St. Elsewhere	Norm Peterson	Episode: "Cheers"
1986	The Twilight Zone	Barney Schlessinger	Episode: "The World Next Door"
1986–1991	Saturday Night Live	Himself (host)	2 episodes
1987	The Tortellis	Norm Peterson	Episode: "Frankie Comes to Dinner"
1988	Mickey's 60th Birthday		TV special
1989	Day by Day	Stan	Episode: "Fraternity"
	The Magical World of Disney	Norm Peterson	Episode: "Disneyland's 35th Anniversary Celebration"
1990	The Earth Day Special		TV special
	Wings		Episode: "The Story of Joe"
1991	Tales from the Crypt	Mr. Crosswhite	Episode: "The Reluctant Vampire"
1991–2003	Saturday Night Live	Bob Swerski	8 episodes
1992	Roc	Stan Mason	Episode: "The Stan Who Came to Dinner"
	The Edge	Various	Episode #1.16
	Seinfeld	Himself	Episode: "The Trip: Part 1"
1993	Bob		Episode: "Da Game"
	The Building	Cappucino Guy	Episode: "The Waiting Game"
1994	The Larry Sanders Show	George Wendt	Episode: "Hank's Night in the Sun"
	The Simpsons	Norm Peterson (voice)	Episode: "Fear of Flying"
1995	The George Wendt Show	George Coleman	Main role
	Columbo	Graham McVeigh	Episode: "Strange Bedfellows"
	Shame II: The Secret	Mac	Television film
	Bye Bye Birdie	Harry MacAfee
1996	Spin City	Dan Donaldson	Episode: "The High and the Mighty"
	Alien Avengers	Charlie	Television film
1997	Alien Avengers II
	The Naked Truth	Les Polansky	3 episodes
	The Price of Heaven	Sam	Television film
	Whose Line Is It Anyway?	Himself	3 episodes
1999	Alice in Wonderland	Fred Tweedledee	Television film
2000	The Pooch and the Pauper	Sheldon Sparks
	Madigan Men	Carl	4 episodes
	The List	Guest Host	1 episode
2001	Strange Relations	Howard	Television film
	Robertson's Greatest Hits	Tom Robertson
2001–2002	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Mike Shelby	6 episodes
2002	Becker	Frank	Episode: "V-Day"
	Frasier	Norm Peterson	Episode: "Cheerful Goodbyes"
2004	House of Dreams	Host	Television series
	Rock Me Baby	Monty	Episode: "Not-So-Grand Parents"
	George Lopez	Ed	2 episodes
2006	Modern Men	Tug Clarke	6 episodes
	Masters of Horror	Harold Thompson	Episode: "Family"
	Santa Baby	Santa Claus	Television film
2007	Imperfect Union	Duke
	Larry the Cable Guy's Christmas Spectacular	Santa Claus
	The Green Green Grass	Cliff Cooper	Episode: "The Special Relationship"
2007–2009	Family Guy	Norm Peterson (voice)	2 episodes
2008	A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!	Santa Claus	TV special
2010	Cubed	George Wendt	Episode #1.20
	Less Than Kind	Tiny	Episode: "Road Trip"
	Ghost Whisperer	George the Plumber	Episode: "The Children's Parade"
2011	Hot in Cleveland	Yoder	Episode: "Where's Elka?"
	Harry's Law	Franklin Chickory	Episode: "American Girl"
2012	The Seven Year Hitch	Mr. Henderson	Television film
	Kickin' It	Uncle Blake	Episode: "Kickin' It On Our Own"
	A Christmas Wedding Date	Mr. Destiny	Television film
	Merry In-Laws	Santa Claus
2013	Portlandia	George Heely	Episode: "Off the Grid"
2014	Kirstie	Duke	Episode: "Thelma's Ex"
	Verdene and Gleneda	Uncle Beanie	Episode: "A Town Called Peculiar"; web series
	Franklin & Bash	Henry "Hank" Shae	Episode: "Honor Thy Mother"
2015	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Himself	Episode: "Jesse Tyler Ferguson Wears a Brown Checked Shirt and Stripey Socks"
	Clipped	Buzzy	Main role
2016	Childrens Hospital	Governor Jasper Ruth	Episode: "By the Throat"
2017	Mommy, I Didn't Do It	J.D. Pierce	Television film
	Bill Nye Saves the World	Hacked Support Group Member / Polio	2 episodes
2018	The Greatest American Hero	Bob Rice	Television film
	Fresh Off the Boat	Harv	Episode: "Workin' the 'Ween"
2018–2020	Fancy Nancy	Grandpa Clancy (voice)	10 episodes
2019	Eddie's	The Captain	Television film
	Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell	Famine	Episode: "The Poor Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
	Peyton's Places	Bob Swerski	Episode: "Da Bears"
	The Goldbergs	Ned Frank	Episode: "Food in a Geoffy"[22]
	Christmas 9 to 5	Manny O'Quinn	Television film
2023	The Masked Singer	Himself/Moose	Season 9 contestant

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Ray Parker Jr.: Ghostbusters	Himself	Uncredited cameo
1991	Michael Jackson: Black or White	Father	Uncredited
1993	Soul Asylum: Black Gold	Guy Pushing Car
	Dangerous: The Short Films	Father	"Black or White" video segment
1995	Michael Jackson: Video Greatest Hits
2000	MxPx: Responsibility	Boss	Uncredited

References

1. "George Wendt". Biography.com. Archived from the original on December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 3, 2017.
2. "George R. Wendt, Realtor". Chicago Sun-Times. June 18, 1993. Archived from the original on November 5, 2015.
3. Kogan, Rick (July 28, 2010). "Loretta M. Wendt, 1922–2010". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017.
4. "Nineteen years on American funnyman Wendt returns to Kilkenny". Irish Examiner. May 26, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
5. Korpi, Amy (April 9, 2021). "Fertile Ground: Campion High School played an important role in many lives". Midwest Province. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
6. "George Wendt in Auburn stage production". Democrat and Chronicle. September 16, 2013. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
7. Finn, Timothy (November 23, 2016). "Cheers! George Wendt takes us to his favorite KC bars". Kansas City Star. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
8. McRady, Rachel (February 12, 2012). "Jason Sudeikis Hangs Out With Uncle, Cheers Star George Wendt: See the Epic Picture!". US Weekly. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
9. "George Wendt in Auburn production". Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
10. "The 25 Best TV Characters You Never See On Screen". NME, June 14, 2016.
11. "Guest List: George Wendt". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
12. "'Norm!' Wendt plays Charlottetown Festival". Canada: CBC. August 3, 2010. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012. Retrieved August 3, 2010.
13. McMains, Andrew (September 6, 2013). "Ad of the Day: Aaron Rodgers Is Hounded by 'Da Bears' Fans for State Farm It's brats vs. cheese with Robert Smigel and George Wendt". Adweek. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
14. "Bears' Superfans in State Farm commercial with Mike Ditka". Chicago Sun-Times. November 5, 2013. Retrieved December 1, 2013.
15. Newtheatre.com Archived January 13, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
16. Clipped, n.d., retrieved May 27, 2015
17. The Fabulous Lipitones, retrieved December 14, 2016
18. "St. Jacobs Country Playhouse | Death of a Salesman". www.draytonentertainment.com. Retrieved September 12, 2018.
19. "George Wendt". TV Guide. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
20. Responding to whether he appeared uncredited in A Wedding (1978) and Bronco Billy (1980), Wendt said in Lovece, Frank (December 5, 2017). "George Wendt plays Santa in 'Elf: The Musical'". Newsday. New York City / Long Island. Retrieved January 3, 2018. I don't remember 'Bronco Billy,' but there was one summer they shot 'A Wedding' in Chicago and they were looking for extras to play caterers, waiters and waitresses and the like. So all these guys from [The Second City and] Steppenwolf were waiters: Me and Dennis Franz, John Malkovich, Alan Wilder, Tim Evans — lots of people. And we had fun; it was a bonding summer with the Steppenwolf guys. We'd turn up at dawn every morning and just hang out and wait around in our outfits. ... I don't even know if anything I shot is in the movie. (subscription required)
21. "George Wendt". IMDb. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
22. Dawn, Randee (September 17, 2019). "A mini-'Cheers' reunion is coming to TV! See the pics". Today. Retrieved September 18, 2019.

External links

• George Wendt at IMDb
• George Wendt at the Internet Broadway Database
• George Wendt at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• George Wendt discography at Discogs
• George Wendt cast bio on The WB
• 2009 interview with Bullz-Eye.com