Kelsey Grammer remembers late ‘Cheers’ costar George Wendt

Kelsey Grammer is pouring out a cold one for his former Cheers costar George Wendt.

The actor fondly remembered the “extraordinary” and “hysterical” Wendt, who died peacefully at his Los Angeles home on Tuesday at the age of 76, on the latest episode of Gayle King’s SiriusXM show.

“It was a bit of a surprise,” Grammer said of learning the news during his appearance Wednesday night. “George was a lovely guy. I mean, it’s still odd to speak of him in a past tense right now, but it was just yesterday morning we found out. And I was just sitting writing something at the moment. I got a call. But I spoke to his family yesterday and just told them how much I liked him and, you know, choked up a little bit.”

Wendt was “hysterical,” Grammer added. “For 11 years, America waited for him to walk into a bar every Thursday night and say something funny. And they just knew he wouldn’t disappoint. He was extraordinary. He’d sort of just lope across that floor and sit down at that stool and order that beer and say something that set the world on fire.”

Wendt was best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayal of the beer-guzzling Norm Peterson on the revered NBC sitcom Cheers, on which he starred across all 11 seasons. Grammer’s Dr. Frasier Crane appeared as a regular customer of the Boston bar beginning in season 3 before going on to headline his own spinoff show, Frasier. Wendt would later reprise his Cheers role in episodes of Frasier, as well as on the short-lived spinoff The Tortellis.

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Ted Danson, who portrayed bar owner Sam Malone, is among the many other Cheers alums who have paid tribute to Wendt following his death.

“I am devastated to hear that Georgie is no longer with us,” Danson said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “I am sending all my love to [his wife] Bernadette and the children. It is going to take me a long time to get used to this. I love you, Georgie.”

John Ratzenberger, who played postal worker, bar patron, and Norm’s best friend Cliff Clavin, also expressed his heartbreak. “For 11 years on Cheers, we shared a stage, a lot of laughs, and a front-row seat to one of television’s most beloved friendships,” Ratzenberger told EW. “George brought Norm to life with a subtle brilliance — the kind that made it look easy. That was his gift.”

Rhea Perlman, who played bar waitress Carla Tortelli, remembered Wendt as “the sweetest, kindest man I ever met.”

“It was impossible not to like him,” she said “As Carla, I was often standing next to him, as Norm always took the same seat at the end of the bar, which made it easy to grab him and beat the crap out of him at least once a week. I loved doing it, and he loved pretending it didn’t hurt. What a guy! I’ll miss him more than words can say.”