Norm Peterson is a fictional TV character who appears on Nantucket. He was played by actor George Wendt, having originated the role on the TV-series, "Cheers," and continuing the role on the TV-series, "Frasier."
Bio[]
Norman "Norm" Peterson is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, possibly best known for sitting in the same stool at Cheers, becoming its most loyal customer. Initially born in Chicago, he has had a huge bar tab at the tavern for several years, and on his arrival everyone calls him by name on arrival. For a time, her served in the United States Coast Guard. He is also a lifelong Boston Celtics fan.
By all accounts, Norm seems to have one been an accountant, even helping Sam Malone, the owner of the bar, on his taxes. He also once dabbled as a house painter and as an ersatz home decorator. It is known he loses his job at a company party while defending Diane Chambers. a Cheers waitress acting as his escort, while fending off unwanted advances from his own boss. Afterward, he briefly worked as a dishwasher at Melvilles, the restaurant over Cheers, later working as a painter, interior decorator and beer taster, which to him was a dream come true for him. On a lark while in college, he became an ordained minister of the Church of the Living Desert after seeing an advertisement in the back of a magazine.
Although unemployed, Norm remains the bar's best customer, often sitting at the end of the bar with Cliff Clavin, his best friend. Although most of the bar often gets frustrated by Cliff's incessant "trivia and facts," Norm sticks by him, but at times, even he gets frustrated by Cliff's eccentricities.
In the course of his time in the bar, he has tried several stunts to get his bar tab erased, once trying to get a novice waitress to erase each "paid beer" for one he drank. He was able to pay off some of it after Sam sold the bar, and the new manager Rebecca Howe had him paint her office and apartment. When a rival bar "bombs" Sam's office, Norm thinks it has been erased, but Sam says its protected in a secure vault considered his retirement package.
Norm has also been married for several years to his wife, Vera Peterson, for over fifteen years. Although she is frequently the target of many jokes about marriage, he really does love her and turns down a chance to cheat on her. However, when Vera got a job at Melville's, he was deeply disturbed by her proximity to him during his bar time. Vera also spills to Rebecca that Norm's real first name is Hillary; he was named after his grandfather, a surgeon who had botched an operation.
Norm's best friend is postman and fellow barfly, Cliff Clavin. The two of them almost always sit by each other at Cheers and attend sports games together. In 1990, the two of them headed to Nantucket for what was supposed to be a fishing trip, but they instead ended up enjoying the the local taverns. In Boston, his favorite restaurant is the Hungry Heifer where he always orders a meal called the Feeding Frenzy.
Episode(s)[]
Trivia[]
- Norm Peterson also has a page on the Cheers Wiki.
