Phil Keith Tom Clavin Popular Books

Phil Keith Tom Clavin Biography & Facts

This is a list of characters from the American television sitcom, Cheers. Original main characters Before the Cheers pilot, "Give Me a Ring Sometime", was finalized and then aired in 1982, the series originally consisted of four employees of Cheers, the bar, in the original script. There was neither Norm Peterson nor Cliff Clavin, regular customers of Cheers; later revisions added them as part of the series. Sam Malone Samuel "Mayday" Malone (Ted Danson) — a bartender and owner of Cheers. Sam is also a ladies' man. Before the series began, he was a relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox when he became (and still is) a friend of Coach, but then he became alcoholic, which took a toll on his baseball career. He has on-again, off-again relationships with Diane Chambers, his opposite, in the first five seasons (1982–1987). During the breaks in their relationship, Sam has flings with many not-so-bright "sexy women" but generally doesn't pursue relationships and fails to seduce some intellectual women. After Diane leaves Boston, he pursues Rebecca Howe, largely unsuccessfully. In the end, he is still unmarried, recovering from sexual addiction with help from Dr. Robert Sutton's (Gilbert Lewis) group meetings, advised by Frasier, in the penultimate episode "The Guy Can't Help It" (1993). Sam Malone was originally written as a former football player, but the casting of Ted Danson led writers to change Sam into an ex-baseball player. Diane Chambers Diane Chambers (Shelley Long) — a highly academic, sophisticated college student. In the pilot, Diane is abandoned by her fiancé Sumner Sloan (Michael McGuire), for whom she'd worked as an assistant, as he returns to his ex-wife. Without a job, money, or man, she reluctantly becomes a cocktail waitress. Over time, she becomes a close friend of Coach. She has an on-and-off relationship with bartender Sam Malone. When not involved with Sam, Diane dates men who fit her upper-class ideals, such as Frasier Crane. Later in the fifth season, she leaves Boston behind for a writing career and in the eleventh and final season lives in Los Angeles. Coach Ernie "Coach" Pantusso (or Pantuso) (Nicholas Colasanto) — a "senile" co-bartender, widower, and retired baseball coach. Coach is also a friend of Sam and a close friend of Diane. He had a daughter, Lisa. Coach was often easily tricked, particularly into situations that put the bar at stake. Nevertheless, he listened to people's problems and then helped to them with advice and analyses. In the fourth season, Coach died without explicit explanation while the actor Colasanto himself died of a heart attack in February 1985. Carla Tortelli Carla Maria Victoria Angelina Teresa Apollonia Lozupone (Rhea Perlman) — a "wisecracking, cynical" cocktail waitress, who abuses customers. At the series premiere, she was the mother of four children and divorced from Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya). She believes in superstitions and flirts with men, including ones who are not interested in her, but secretly carries the torch for Sam. She is both highly fertile and matrimonially inept. Carla's last husband, Eddie LeBec, a washed-up ice hockey goalie whom she married during the run of the show, eventually died in an ice show accident involving a Zamboni. Carla later discovered that Eddie had cheated on her, committing bigamy with another woman whom he had gotten pregnant. Carla's sleazy first husband, Nick Tortelli (Dan Hedaya), also made appearances, variously challenging Carla with a custody battle or a legal scam stemming from their divorce. Carla's eight children, four of whom were born during the show's run, were notoriously ill-behaved, except for Ludlow, whose father was a prominent academician. Perlman's real-life pregnancies were written into the series as Carla's pregnancies. Norm Peterson Hilary Norman Peterson (George Wendt) — a bar regular and semi-unemployed accountant, whose common name "Norm" is often shouted whenever he enters the bar. Outside the bar, he frequently changes jobs and has a troubled marriage with (but is still in love with and married to) Vera, an unseen character. Later in the series, he becomes a house painter, especially for Rebecca's bar office. (Despite a few fleeting appearances and vocal cameos, Vera's body is seen in the fifth-season episode "Thanksgiving Orphans" (1986), but her face is covered with a pumpkin pie. Her body is played by Bernadette Birkett, the real-life wife of George Wendt.) Originally, there was no Norm Peterson. Wendt auditioned for a minor role George for the pilot episode, who was Diane Chambers' first customer and had only one word in one line: "Beer!" After he was cast as George, Wendt's role was rewritten into Norm. Cliff Clavin Clifford C. Clavin, Jr. (John Ratzenberger) — a know-it-all bar regular and postman. He mostly lives with his mother, Esther Clavin (Frances Sternhagen), in the family house (until its on-screen destruction in season 6) and then in a condo, although he first purchases the condo as a bachelor pad for himself. He is ridiculed by friends and enemies alike, including Norm and Carla, for his know-it-all attitude. Cliff is mostly hopeless with women. His longest relationship is with fellow postal worker Margaret O'Keefe (Annie Golden), which begins during Cheers' seventh season (1988–89). When Margaret becomes pregnant with another man's child in 1993's "Do Not Forsake Me O My Postman", Cliff stays by her side as the baby's stepfather before Margaret returns to the child's biological father. In "The Barstoolie" (1985) Cliff meets his father, Cliff Clavin Sr. (Dick O'Neill), who left Cliff and his mother years earlier when Cliff was still a child. Cliff later realizes that his father is a fraudster and a fugitive from justice, and will run off again. Cliff does not want to turn his father in; Cliff Sr. disappears, leaving his son devastated. Ratzenberger auditioned for the Norm Peterson role but, sensing he would not get the role, Ratzenberger pitched the idea of a bar "know-it-all". The producers loved the idea so the security guard Cliff Clavin was added for the pilot. However, the producers changed his occupation into a postal worker because they perceived postal workers as more knowledgeable than security guards. Subsequent main characters Woody Boyd replaced Coach, who died between the third and fourth seasons. Frasier Crane began as a recurring guest role and became a permanent character. Rebecca Howe replaced Diane Chambers, who left Boston for a writing career in 1987. Lilith Sternin started as a one-time character in the Season 4 episode, "Second Time Around" (1986), and became a recurring character in Season 5 (1986–87), and a regular character for Season 10 and the episodes that she appears in for Season 11 (1992–93). Frasier Crane and Lilith Sternin Frasier W. Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and Lilith Sternin (formerly Sternin-Crane) (Bebe Neuwirth) — married psychiatrists and bar regulars, although Lilith rarely ord.... Discover the Phil Keith Tom Clavin popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Phil Keith Tom Clavin books.