George Wendt Way unveiled in Beverly
For eleven seasons, he played the most lovable bar patron in America. But Beverly’s own George Wendt was so much more than Norm from “Cheers.” Today he was immortalized in his hometown.
BEVERLY, Ill. – For 11 seasons, he played the most lovable beer drinker in America, but Beverly’s own George Wendt was so much more than Norm from the TV show “Cheers” and he’s been immortalized in his hometown on a street that now bears his name.
What we know:
“I love that the street is named George Wendt Way because I feel like it’s a nod to his dad too, ‘Bumpa,’ my grandfather George Wendt Senior, who was so proud of George and all he accomplished,” his niece Erin Muldoon Stetson told the large crowd of family and friends.
Wendt, who died in May, was honored with a special mass Sunday morning, including well-wishes posted to a massive sign courtesy of bar patrons from the original “Cheers” bar in Boston.
From there it was a brief walk over to the street dedication—rain or no rain.
Bishop Larry Sullivan told the crowd, “When I woke up today, it was to thunder outside my window and I thought, Oh poor Marti, George’s sister, who’s going to be so upset about this, and the first thing she tells me when I saw her at church is, ‘This is George’s kind of weather!’”
George’s wife Bernadette Birkette met him 50 years ago while Wendt was earning his comedic stripes at “The Second City.”
She said, “He deserved to be loved because he was a wonderful person. He was so generous and so kind and really so funny. If he was here, he’d be in shorts and a tee-shirt!”
Wendt would eventually leave Chicago where the rest, as they say, is history; the affable actor and comedian from Beverly becoming the most recognizable barfly in the world.
“When they started the show, he didn’t actually have a character. He was just supposed to be an extra, and then it grew into Norm, I think the first episode,” his sister Marti Wendt said.
“Cheers” would ultimately catapult Wentz to household name status and lead to other iconic roles, including but not limited to, a Chicago Bears “superfan” on “Saturday Night Live.”
But on this day, the actor who will forever be known as Norm from “Cheers,” was remembered as the man he was away from the spotlight.
“George drank most of his beer at home, not at a bar,” added his wife Bernadette.
The Source: This story contains reporting from Fox 32’s Scott Schneider.
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