Speaker 1: Caalaroga Shark Media. I'm Johnny Mack. George Went, best known
Speaker 1: for his role as Norm Peterson on NBC's Cheers, passed
Speaker 1: away Tuesday morning at his home. He was seventy six.
Speaker 1: His publicist, Melissa Nathan, shared a statement, George was a
Speaker 1: doting family man, a well loved friend, and a confidence
Speaker 1: who all those lucky enough to have known him. He
Speaker 1: will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during
Speaker 1: this time. When earned six consecutive Emmy nominations for his
Speaker 1: performance as Norm Peterson, Cheers coincidentally ended thirty two years
Speaker 1: ago today. George was part of the Second City in
Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies before becoming a TV actor. He had
Speaker 1: numerous guest spots and then landed the role of barfly
Speaker 1: Norm Peterson. He would later appear as Norm in The Tortellis,
Speaker 1: which was one of the spinoffs from Cheers and Frasier.
Speaker 1: After appearing in all two hundred seventy three episodes of Cheers,
Speaker 1: George went went to CBS to star in The George
Speaker 1: Wentz Show. He played a radio host car mechanic. That
Speaker 1: series only ran four a month. Born in nineteen forty
Speaker 1: eight in Chicago. George was on SNL as one of
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears superfans. One of nine children, attended the
Speaker 1: University of Notre Dame before switching to Rockhurst College and
Speaker 1: graduating with a degree in economics. He married Bernardette Burkett
Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy eight. Bernetette interestingly voiced the character of
Speaker 1: Norm's wife on Cheers. She was never seen on camera
Speaker 1: so many credits, including Fletch Gung Ho, Spice World, the
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty five horror film House indie film from twenty nineteen,
Speaker 1: The Climb, guest appearances on Hot and Cleveland, The Twilight Zone,
Speaker 1: Colombo George Lopez Fresh off the Boat. In twenty twenty three,
Speaker 1: he appeared on the Masked Singer in Rolling Stone. Alan
Speaker 1: Seppenwall writes, the final scene of Cheers is a masterclass
Speaker 1: on how to end a beloved, long running show properly.
Speaker 1: It's just Sam alone and the rest of the gang
Speaker 1: hanging out, smoking cigars, swapping stories, and reminding the audience
Speaker 1: why this fictional Boston sports bar had become such a
Speaker 1: cherished place to virtually hang out for the last decade.
Speaker 1: They trade jokes and other different suggestions for what the
Speaker 1: meaning of life is. Then the bar's phone rings that
Speaker 1: everybody realizes they have somewhere else they should be. Everyone
Speaker 1: files out, except for Norm Peterson played by George Went,
Speaker 1: who says that the meeting of life is love. Yes, Sam,
Speaker 1: you know what I love? Sam replies beer Norm. Norm
Speaker 1: considers that promote and then says, yeah, I'll have a
Speaker 1: quick one. It's one more perfectly timed for re joinder
Speaker 1: from the character and actor who may have been better
Speaker 1: at it than anyone else in the long and storied
Speaker 1: history of TV comedy. His surviving family includes his sister
Speaker 1: Kathy Sidecas, mother of Jason Sidekas. Yeah, I didn't know this,
Speaker 1: George Went was Jason Sadakas'. His uncle. Sister Kathy is
Speaker 1: one of the organizers of the Big Slick Celebrity weekend
Speaker 1: that Jason and his fellow Kansas City celebrity's co host.
Speaker 1: This year's event is next week. He heard several times
Speaker 1: that Big Slick. Last year reprised his role as one
Speaker 1: of the de Bears super fans alongside Jason Sadegas, Robert Smigel,
Speaker 1: and Patrick Mahomes from the Chiefs. George told a story
Speaker 1: about his life in Kansas City as a student at Rockhurst.
Speaker 1: He said, Kansas City was sodom and gomore compared to
Speaker 1: South Bend Notre Dame. There was a bar right across
Speaker 1: the street, and I thought it was fantastic. I remember
Speaker 1: the payphone at Mike's tavern. You could rig it. I
Speaker 1: worked for AT and T back in the day, and
Speaker 1: we could see the kids were rigging it. They were
Speaker 1: getting free phone calls. He shared a story about shooting
Speaker 1: a film in Dublin. A friend invited him to go
Speaker 1: bar hopping. George didn't want to go. George gave in.
Speaker 1: They went to a place called the ferry Man, who
Speaker 1: was mostly empty except for one guy. That guy, Bono,
Speaker 1: was this amazing. Bono told George, I didn't want to
Speaker 1: meet you because you were Norm on Cheers. I wanted
Speaker 1: to meet you because you were Norman Cheers and you
Speaker 1: found this place. You corracked the code. George went once said,
Speaker 1: the Norm you see in Cheers has been years in
Speaker 1: the making. I have some characteristics in common with him,
Speaker 1: besides our fondness for beer. But I think I'm a
Speaker 1: lot happier than Norm. I was a beer drinker long
Speaker 1: before Cheers. When I put a couple of six packs
Speaker 1: on top of my grocery shopping cart. People are pleased,
Speaker 1: I tell him I'm taking them home to rehearse. He
Speaker 1: did say that the toughest part of his job was
Speaker 1: drinking the beer on the TV, which was actually warm, flat,
Speaker 1: and non alcoholic that was layered with a pinch of
Speaker 1: salt to create the illusion of a head on a beer.
Speaker 1: He told The Washington Post in nineteen eighty five. There
Speaker 1: I was slamming those down for a whole day. It
Speaker 1: not only tastes disgusting. I was afraid of keeling over
Speaker 1: from high blood pressure. Then I got the knack. I
Speaker 1: didn't have to put all those brus away. It only
Speaker 1: mattered when the camera was pointing my way. It took
Speaker 1: a couple of years, but now I watch the camera.
Speaker 1: That's how I make my money. That's acting. George Went
Speaker 1: was seventy six