GEORGE WENDT

'George Robert Wendt' (born October 17, 1948) is an American actor perhaps best known for the role of Norm Peterson on the television show ''Cheers''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Pop culture references

External links

Biography

Early life

Wendt was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended Campion High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He was kicked out of University of Notre Dame after a lack of studying resulted in a semester with a 0.00 GPA. He was more successful at the Jesuit Rockhurst College in Kansas City where after applying himself, he graduated with a B.A. in economics.

Career

He is also an 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 11:30AM as he was instructed. The woman working there handed him a broom and said "Welcome to the theater, kid"; thus, his first job in showbiz was sweeping up cigarette butts off the floors. Second City was also where he met his future wife, Bernadette Birkett, who was to later play the voice of Norm's never-seen wife, Vera, on ''Cheers''. In 1989, Wendt appeared as the eponymous protagonist in a BBC TV dramatization of Ivan Goncharov's novel ''Oblomov''. He has also appeared twice (two episodes were made from one day's filming) on the original British edition of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?''.
George Wendt first appeared on the NBC sketch show ''Saturday Night Live'' in a Season 11 (1985–1986) episode where he shared hosting duties with director Francis Ford Coppola. (Coppola only appeared on the episode in sketches that pertain to a running gag throughout the episode where Coppola, Lorne Michaels, and then-writer/castmember Terry Sweeney work to "retool" SNL's sketches for better ratings, a reference to SNL's ratings being so low in the 1985-1986 season due to the young, inexperienced cast Lorne hired that Brandon Tartikoff considered cancelling the show.) In the early 1990s, Wendt made cameo appearances on several episodes of ''SNL'' as Bob Swerski, one of the Chicago Superfans (along with castmembers Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Robert Smigel, and one-time host, Joe Mantegna). Also, Wendt is the uncle of current ''SNL'' writer and cast member Jason Sudeikis.
Wendt has since appeared as himself on ''Seinfeld'' and has reprised the character Norm Peterson on the ''The Simpsons'' as well as the ''Frasier'' episode "Cheerful Goodbyes". In 2003, Wendt appeared as a celebrity fisherman in the music video for Corba Verde's "Riot Industry" along with Rudy Ray Moore (of "Dolemite" fame) and The Minutemen's Mike Watt. He appeared in several episodes of ''Sabrina, The Teenage Witch'' 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 May 2006, Wendt was seen yet again on television. He made several appearances on ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' where he performed short skits to the audience's delight. His appearance on ''Late Night'' was in all likelihood due to the fact that the show was having a week long event in his hometown of Chicago where he is beloved. He starred in a 2006 episode of ''Masters of Horror'' entitled "Family", directed by John Landis. Wendt performed alongside Richard Thomas in ''Twelve Angry Men'' in October 2006 in the Eisenhower Theater in Washington, DC. After the show opened, Wendt was interviewed by local movie 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." In Spring 2007, Wendt performed in Twelve Angry Men in Los Angeles.

Pop culture references

Wendt is mentioned in an episode of the animated television series ''Animaniacs'' by survey takers who are bothering the Warner Brothers and Dot while they are in a shopping mall. The survey takers go through just about every variation of a question concerning Wendt, beans and movies before the Warners are able to get rid of them.
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 starred as Private Roche in a 1982 episode of M
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★ H, where he suffered from having a pool ball stuck in his mouth for much of the episode.

External links

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★ George Wendt cast bio on The WB