Norm Peterson (played by George Wendt) is a frequently out-of-work accountant who is a regular patron at the Boston saloon called Cheers . Norm's best friend is obnoxious mail carrier Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger). Some would say though that Norm's best friend is really a big cold glass of beer. Norm's existence seems to be always drinking at Cheers. He never seems to be at home or at work. Just sitting on his regular bar stool.Throughout the series' run, it becomes a common thread that Norm has been at Cheers much longer than anyone else. It's never given exactly when Norm started coming to the bar, but at one point, he tells a couple that he's been sitting on his bar stool since the Ford administration. Norm has a wife named Vera who is seldom seen, and who he often refrains from talking to or even going home to see. Though much of the time Norm claims he does not care about her, he has been known to defend her on several occasions, notably when Melville's owner John Allen Hill fires her.Along with being one of Cheers' oldest patrons, Norm's other claim-to-fame has been his massive bar tab, of which Sam Malone keeps track of in a binder several inches thick. Though there have been a few opportunities for Norm to pay off the tab, he often does not take the hint, or tries to steer the subject to something else.Though unemployed for most of his time at Cheers, Norm found some minor work doing painting services, as well as doing interior decorating. At the time Cheers ended, Norm asked Woody to use his City Councilman connections, and was soon employed by the City of Boston.Norm's last appearance with some of the Cheers gang, was in the Season 9 episode of Frasier, titled Cheerful Goodbyes. Norm was seen drinking a beer at Cliff Claven's retirement party, and ended having a lively conversation with Frasier's father, Martin Crane. Show less «