Jason Sudeikis is honoring his late uncle George Wendt.
The veteran actor, known for portraying the iconic Norm Peterson on “Cheers” for the entirety of its 11 seasons from 1982 to 1993, passed away on May 20 at the age of 76 while sleeping.
Nearly two weeks later, Sudeikis, 49, spoke about Wendt’s death for the first time at the Big Slick 2025 kickoff in Kansas City over the weekend.
“Regarding my uncle George, there’s that saying, ‘don’t meet your heroes… usually because they let you down,’ which I assume is the second half of that statement. But he’s not one of those people,” the “Ted Lasso” star remarked during a news conference at the event.
“He’s as fun, kind, and warm as any character he portrayed on television or in films,” Sudeikis continued about Wendt. “He was an incredible influence on me, both as a trailblazer from the Midwest and for showing me that acting is a viable career path. It’s also a career where you could meet the love of your life, like his wife and lifelong partner, Bernadette.”
“He also always kept connected to his family and to his roots both both in Chicago where he’s from, and from the time he spent here going to Rockhurst college and to a bar named Mike’s a whole bunch where I think he logged maybe 18 credit hours,” Sudeikis joked. “But it was all for preparation of a job that we all know him for on ‘Cheers,’ and all time well spent. But yeah, we miss him greatly and I love him dearly.”
Sudeikis is hosting the benefit event to raise money for Children’s Mercy Hospital. He sweetly wore a jersey with Wendt’s last name on the back and the number 76 (Wendt’s age at death) at the celebrity softball game.
Sudeikis and Wendt have always been close, with “The George Wendt Show” star gushing over the “Ted Lasso” actor’s career in 2024.
“It was Letterman or Conan, he said, ‘Did your uncle George have any advice for you?’” Wendt recalled on the “Still Here Hollywood” podcast. “And Jason goes — he’s so sharp — he goes, ‘Yeah he told me just get on the best show on television and one of the greatest shows of all time and just pretty much take it from there.’ And he goes, ‘So I did.’”
“He got ‘SNL,’” the comedian, who is the brother of Sudeikis’ mom, Kathy, added.
“He’s such a great kid,” Wendt continued of Sudeikis. “Very proud. Proud especially, you know, not only of the success, but he’s solid. Have you read profiles and stuff? I mean he is such a mesh, so smart, so thoughtful. I mean, it all comes out in the show. Right?”
During the interview, Wendt also reflected on his own journey into Hollywood.
“I didn’t want to be in a job I hated for the rest of my life,” he admitted before noting he went through a long list of careers before landing on comedy.
Wendt ended up joining Chicago’s improvisational comedy troupe Second City, which he called “a blast.”
“I had fun and it wasn’t really until I’d been there working, and then they called from Leo Burnett or something and said, ‘Hey, can you send the people, some of the cast over… we’re going to do some commercials or we’re going to have some demos for commercials,’ that sort of thing, and they said, ‘Well you have to join SAG.’”
Sudeikis, meanwhile, opened up about his relationship with Wendt during a 2011 interview with Playboy.
“He’s always been very encouraging, but there was no ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ kind of relationship between him and I,” the “Horrible Bosses” star explained. “He didn’t take me to the park to explain comic timing. There was nothing like that. He was just a good example that being an actor was a viable option.”
Sudeikis added, “Here’s a guy from the Midwest, in my family, who took the road less traveled and it worked out for him. The advice he gave me, and I say this jokingly, is ‘Get on one of the best sitcoms of all time and then ride it out.’”
The “We’re the Millers” alum got his start as a writer on “Saturday Night Live” before starring as a cast member for nine seasons from 2005 to 2013.
In 2008, Sudeikis revealed to The Post that Wendt didn’t give him any tips for being on the late-night sketch show, despite the “Cheers” actor’s frequent appearances on it over the years.
“Not at all,” he confessed. “George is great at shepherding out advance, like, ‘You know who you should talk to?’ But the neat thing is, my third week there, Robert Smigel, who wrote the Superfan sketches, was like, ‘Wanna help me write a Superfans thing for your uncle George and Horatio [Sanz]?’ So I’m sitting there with comedy legend Robert Smigel my third week in this job that I can’t believe I have, and we’re writing stuff for my uncle George based on characters he’s done since I was 15. It’s crazy.”
In 2017, Sudeikis attended “I Can’t Believe They Wendt There: The Roast Of George Wendt” in Chicago, Illinois. On the red carpe before the roast, the “Horrible Bosses 2” vet cheekily told ABC7, “When I realized that that show [“Cheers”] was watched by other people than my family, I thought, ‘oh wow.’”
Wendt’s family rep confirmed his death to The Post last month, stating that the star “died peacefully in his sleep while at home” that morning.
“George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him,” their statement continued. “He will be missed forever. The family has requested privacy during this time.”
At this time, no official cause of death has been revealed.
During his time on the NBC sitcom, Wendt garnered six consecutive Emmy nominations for his performance as Norm.
The cast of “Cheers” recently had a mini-reunion at the 2024 Emmys.
Wendt, along with Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Rhea Perlman and John Ratzenberger, reunited as part of a special tribute at the awards ceremony honoring some of the most beloved shows in TV history.
The cast appeared on stage inside a replica of the iconic Boston bar, with host Anthony Anderson calling the sitcom “one of the greatest television shows of all time.”
“This feels nice to be here in front of you,” Danson, 77, said, before Ratzenberger, 78, chimed in that the event was a “long overdue class reunion.”
Noticeably absent was Woody Harrelson, who couldn’t make ‘Cheers’ because he’s in a play,” Jesse Collins, an executive producer for the Emmys, told the Hollywood Reporter at the time.
Following the news of Wendt’s death, two of his “Cheers” co-stars released touching statements about his life.
“I am devastated to hear that Georgie is no longer with us,” a rep for Danson shared with The Post. “I am sending all my love to Bernadette and the children. It is going to take me a long time to get used to this. I love you, Georgie.”
Perlman told The Post in part, “George Wendt was the sweetest, kindest man I ever met. It was impossible not to like him.”
