George Wendt, the actor and comedian who cut his teeth at Chicago’s improvisational comedy troupe Second City before finding fame as part of the ensemble cast of the beloved 1980s NBC sitcom

George Wendt, the actor best known for his starring role as Norm Peterson in the NBC sitcom "Cheers," has died at 76.

But the more viewers got to know the character — played, of course, by George Wendt, who died yesterday at 76 in his sleep of unknown causes, according to his family — the more complex, and in some ways tragic,