‘Cheers’ actor George Wendt is dead, but Norm lives forever

Actor George Wendt, who played Norm on “Cheers,” died Tuesday. He was 76.

George Wendt died Tuesday. He was 76.

Most people knew him best as the beer-loving, wide-avoiding barfly Norm from “Cheers,” one of the tentpoles of the bygone era of NBC’s “Must See TV.”

The show ended in 1993. I remember the final episode, but I only felt a twinge of melancholy …