Where Is the Cheers Cast Now? A Look at the Stars' Lives After the Show, Including George Wendt's Legacy

Published: May 20, 2025

The beloved sitcom Cheers helped launch the careers of several actors who stayed in the spotlight years after the series ended on May 20, 1993.

The NBC show starred Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Shelley Long, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, and George Wendt as they played a group of friends talking about their everyday lives at their favorite bar in Boston.

The show lost a cast member on May 20, when Wendt died at the age of 76. He died on the 32nd anniversary of the series finale.

"George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever," his publicist told PEOPLE in a statement at the time.

George Wendt as Norm Peterson

George Wendt, who played Norm Peterson on the sitcom, died on May 20, 2025 — the 32nd anniversary of the Cheers series finale. He was 76.

His publicist Melissa Nathan told PEOPLE in a statement, "Beloved actor and comedian, George Wendt, best known for starring in the NBC hit comedy Cheers, has passed away."

The statement continued, "George's family confirmed the news of his death early Tuesday morning, announcing he died peacefully in his sleep while at home. George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those lucky enough to have known him. He will be missed forever."

Ted Danson as Sam Malone

As Sam Malone, a former baseball star and the owner of Cheers, Danson kept "everyone's sanity" on set, as Ratzenberger told PEOPLE in 1987. "He absorbs the angst."

Best known for his part on The Doctors prior to Cheers, the San Diego native earned 11 consecutive Emmy nominations and two wins for his work. After leaving the bar, he went on to much success, starring alongside Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg in Three Men and a Baby and its sequel Three Men and a Little Lady, and leading a host of TV series including Ink, Becker, Bored to Death, CSI, The Good Place, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Mr. Mayor.

Off-screen, he has been married to actress Mary Steenburgen since 1995. He has two children, daughters Kate and Alexis, from his previous marriage to Casey Coates.

Shelley Long as Diane Chambers

Shelley Long's graduate student character Diane Chambers stumbled into the bar after a breakup and took a job as a waitress — though ultimately became a love interest for Danson's Sam. Though rumors of a rift between the two stars swirled, especially as Long left the show in 1987, "we did our jobs with a caring for each other," Long told PEOPLE that year. "That doesn't mean that there weren't days that were harder than others."

The Indiana native, who came up through Chicago's Second City improv troupe, had a few roles prior to Cheers, though the series launched her into superstardom. She earned five Emmy nominations and one win for Cheers, and went on to series including Good Advice and Modern Family, in addition to stepping into the role of Carol Brady in the updated Brady Bunch movies.

Long has been married twice; she has one daughter, actress Juliana, with ex Bruce Tyson.

Rhea Perlman as Carla Tortelli

PEOPLE once described Rhea Perlman's Carla Tortelli as "man-hungry" and "tough-as-nails." The cocktail waitress was Sam's eternal sidekick and a mother of eight.

For her, Cheers "was huge," the New York City-born actress told PEOPLE in 2022. "And I wouldn't have had any of the career that I — well, who knows what I would've had? Nobody knows what doesn't happen, but it was the best job in the world." She scored 10 Emmy nods and four wins for her work as Carla.

The role opened doors to parts on TV series like Pearl, Ally McBeal, and Hung, plus costar Kirstie Alley's Kirstie and more recently, The Mindy Project. She also had a touching part in 2023's Barbie movie.

Prior to Cheers she starred on Taxi, where she met husband Danny DeVito (according to PEOPLE, they wed on a lunch break in 1982). Together they have three children, Lucy, Grace and Jake.

Fun fact: Perlman's father, the late actor Philip Perlman, also acted on Cheers as a regular patron of the bar.

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