Wendt's publicist, Melissa Nathan, confirmed that he had died earlier that morning in a statement shared with PEOPLE

Cheers” star George Wendt died from cardiac arrest amid an array of health problems, according to his death certificate obtained by several outlets Thursday. The underlying causes for Wendt were listed as congestive heart failure,

When George Wendt, the actor who played Norm, died recently, people of a certain generation remembered a comfortable, if not inspiring, presence. Norm had a job he didn’t like (accounting) and a wife he avoided (Vera), but he did have friends in a neighborhood pub (Cheers) in Boston where everybody did know his name.