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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Real 'Cheers' Bartender Laid Off

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(Newser) – For 35 years, Eddie Doyle has been the most famous bartender at Boston’s most famous bar, pouring drinks, signing autographs, and raising more than $1 million for charity along the way. Now, he’s unemployed. Cheers, the bar that inspired the TV show of the same name, has laid Doyle off, the Boston Globe reports. "I'm a casualty of the economic situation that we're in," he says.

“He's as important as George Washington to this city,” said one former Boston mayor. “They say it’s a bar where everybody knows your name, but it’s really a bar where everybody knows Eddie Doyle.” Doyle started working the bar in the early 70s. He met his wife there, started a softball team, and organized fishing trips for the regulars. “We had a community,” he says. Then he adds, “I’ll still be around. I’m not dead.”

A tourist exits the Bull & Finch bar August 13, 2001 in Boston, Mass. The bar was the inspiration for the popular television sitcom 'Cheers.'
A tourist exits the Bull & Finch bar August 13, 2001 in Boston, Mass. The bar was the inspiration for the popular television sitcom 'Cheers.'   (Getty Images)
Actor George Wendt, known as Norm on the sitcom 'Cheers', looks at his beer August 23, 2001 on opening night at the 'Cheers' bar in Boston, Mass.
Actor George Wendt, known as Norm on the sitcom 'Cheers', looks at his beer August 23, 2001 on opening night at the 'Cheers' bar in Boston, Mass.   (Getty Images)
John Ratzenberger, George Wendt, and Kelsey Grammer at the Cheers Bar on stage during the Nick at Nite 2001 Upfront Presentation at Cipriani in New York City on May 14, 2001.
John Ratzenberger, George Wendt, and Kelsey Grammer at the Cheers Bar on stage during the Nick at Nite 2001 Upfront Presentation at Cipriani in New York City on May 14, 2001.   (Getty Images)
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It's the end of an era. That must mean in these tough economic times everybody's going to be sober in Boston. - Bill "Spaceman" Lee

It was very tough. Personally, for me, it was a disaster. Eddie and I have been friends for 40 years. - Cheers owner Tom Kershaw,
on laying off Doyle

It could have been any bar in the US. But in the end, they did capture the whole thing, with their crew of misfits and eclectic collection of customers that fit but
didn't fit. - Eddie Doyle, on the show Cheers

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Shannonals
Mar 11, 09 4:04 PM CDT
I would have understood if the bar it's self was clsoing, but firing an icon makes no sense Reply
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