The 80s TV sitcom Cheers was set in Boston and has always had a special place in Bostonians’ hearts. When word spread on Tuesday about the passing of George Wendt, who played Norm, Boston turned out to make sure he knew that there, everyone knew his name.
The outside shots of the fictional bar on the beloved NBC sitcom Cheers were shots of the Bull & Finch Pub on Beacon Hill in Boston, MA. After making a deal with NBC in 2002, the pub officially changed its name to Cheers Boston and modeled itself after the bar on the show. The cast of the show gathered to watch the finale in the Bull & Finch, and being featured on the show led to the pub becoming one of the top tourist destinations in Boston which it remains to this day.
Many of the actors from the show visited the pub multiple times, among them, George Wendt, who played Norm. Wendt passed away on May 20, 2025. His passing sent shockwaves throughout Boston, and many flocked to Cheers to pay tribute to George and his beloved character on the show.
The pub kept a bar stool empty in front of Norms brass placemarker at the end of the bar and set a full mug of beer in front of it along with flowers, a candle, and a picture of Wendt in character with one of Norm’s famous entrance phrases as a caption, “What’s the story Norm? Boy meets beer. Boy drinks beer. Boy orders another beer.”
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The pub also set up a banner outside with a picture of Wendt that people could write messages on, and a memory book on the bar where they could do the same. On their website is a tribute page titled One for the Road Remebering George Wendt where people can look at pictures and leave messages about Wendt and Norm.
In an interview with WCVB, Cheers manager Jeff Poirier noted that Wendt passed on the anniversary of the show’s final taping in 1993. The episode was appropriately titled Last Call.
Poirier said, “He was the most iconic person on the show. I can’t go through a whole shift without people coming screaming through the door yelling ‘Norm!’ He came through here, really nice guy. Kinda quiet, a little shy, which is surprising. But more than happy to sit at that bar and drink some beers.”
Former Boston Mayor Ray Flynn guest-starred on an episode of the sitcom and later said, “No matter where I went after that, people’d say, Mayor Ray Flynn! From Cheers! Not from Boston, but from Cheers.”
George Wendt was 76 when he passed away at his home in Los Angeles, CA. He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Bernadette Birkett, and their three children.
Boston Pays Tribute to ‘Cheers’ Star George Wendt first appeared on Parade on May 22, 2025
