Actor George Wendt, famous for his role as Norm on the long-running sitcom Cheers, died yesterday at the age of 76. Wendt had a memorable guest role in the Season 11 M*A*S*H episode “Trick or Treatment” playing Pvt. La Roche, a Marine with a pool ball stuck in his mouth. Charles sarcastically pretends not to notice his patient can’t speak before feigning shock and asking La Roche, “Do you realize you have something in your mouth?”
In a 2009 interview with Bullz-Eye.com, Wendt revealed how the pool ball scene was filmed:
It was rubber. It was a rubber ball that was painted green. I think it was a nine ball or something like that. I forget what it was. And they just squished it into my mouth and then it popped into normal size once it was in.
Like M*A*S*H, Cheers was not popular during its first season but was renewed and went on to become wildly successful. Wendt played Norm on Cheers for its entire run on NBC, from 1982 to 1993, and was one of only three cast members to appear in every episode; the others were Ted Danson and Rhea Perlman. Whenever his character entered the bar, everyone present shouted out his name.
He earned six Emmy nominations for his work on the show and Wendt would also portray Norm in a variety of other TV shows including St. Elsewhere, The Tortellis (a Cheers spin-off), Wings, The Simpsons, Frasier (another Cheers spin-off), and Family Guy.
Wendt’s acting career, which began only a few years before he was cast on Cheers, continued until 2024. His last acting role was a made-for-TV movie titled Love’s Second Act.
Obituaries can be found at Variety, Deadline Hollywood, CNN, and The Hollywood Reporter.
