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Kelsey Grammer paid tribute to his former Cheers co-star George Wendt, who died earlier this week at age 76. He died peacefully in his sleep.
Grammer called in to Gayle King’s SiriusXM show to speak about his former co-star’s legacy. “It was a bit of a surprise,” he said of the news. “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 starred as bar regular Norm across all eleven seasons of the hit sitcom. Grammer’s Dr. Frasier Crane joined the cast in Season Three as a recurring guest before becoming a series regular in Season Six. After Cheers ended, Grammer starred in Frasier, where Wendt’s Norm made a cameo.
“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,” Grammer continued. “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.”
Over the last two days, tributes from other members of theCheerscast have poured in. Ted Danson revealed he was “devastated” in a statement, while Rhea Pearlman called Wendt “the sweetest, kindest man I ever met.”
