Jason Sudeikis pays tribute to his late uncle, ‘Cheers’ star George Wendt

Jason Sudeikis has broken his silence to say some lovely things about his late uncle, actor George Wendt. The “Cheers” star died last month at age 76. (Timothy Hiatt/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

Jason Sudeikis has broken his silence to say some lovely things about his late uncle, actor George Wendt.

The “Cheers” star died last month at age 76.

Sudeikis made an appearance over the weekend at a fundraiser for Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was asked about Wendt.

“With regard to my uncle George, I mean, there’s that old saying of like, ‘Don’t meet your heroes,’ usually ‘cause ‘they let you down,’ I assume, is the back half of that statement,” Sudeikis said in a video captured and posted by KSHB 41. “But he’s not one of those people.”

The “Ted Lasso” star said his uncle was “as fun and kind and as warm as any character he played on television or in films.”

“He was an incredible influence to me,” Sudeikis said. “Both as someone that blazes the trail, being from the Midwest and teaching me that acting was a career you could actually have, if you really care about it.”

That included demonstrating having “a career where you could meet the love of your life, like his wife, a.k.a. permanent girlfriend, Bernadette,” referencing Wendt’s almost 50 year marriage.

Family and community were important to his uncle, Sudeikis said.

“He also always kept connected to his family, to his roots, both in Chicago, of course, where he’s from, but then also the time he spent here,” he said.

He joked about Wendt’s fondness for a bar called Mike’s, where Sudeikis said his uncle spent a good bit of time.

“It was all in preparation of a job that we all know him for, ‘Cheers,’” he said. “All time well spent. But yeah, we miss him greatly and I love him dearly.”

By Lisa Respers France, CNN