Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Hot on Facebook

Uproar After NC State Agent 'Fixes' Girl's Lunch Preschooler has to eat chicken nuggets instead of mom's meal »

Real 'Cheers' Bartender Laid Off

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 10, 2009 2:14 PM CDT

(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.”

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (3)]

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. (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. (Getty Images)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

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

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

America's Worst Job-Hunting Cities

Miami tops the latest list

(NEWSER) - Miami and LA might be beautiful places to live—but they’re really terrible places to find work. Those two cities top the list in a new Indeed.com analysis of the worst cities to find employment. Indeed, a job hunting site, compared federal unemployment records with its own job listings to arrive at this list, finding that in Miami there were more than four job seekers per listing, while LA had 3.48. More»

Now Is an Awful Time to Be a Young Man in America

Some 14.4% of 25- to 34-year-olds jobless; many living at home

(NEWSER) - Few Americans were immune to the recession, but the plight of young men continues to be particularly dire. The unemployment rate for male high-school grads ages 25 to 34 is 14.4%, far above the 9% national average; the figure also marks a huge jump from the 6.1% jobless rate they faced before the downturn, the Wall Street Journal reports. Even worse off are high-school educated men ages 20 to 24, who suffer a whopping 22.5% jobless rate. More»

Wall Street Will Lose 10K Jobs

New York comptroller predicts blow to economy

(NEWSER) - It looks like a lot of Wall Street denizens will be joining the ranks of the unemployed soon, New York’s state comptroller warns in a report released today, predicting that the securities industry will shed nearly 10,000 jobs by the end of 2012. The industry has already cut 4,100 jobs since April, and deeper cuts are likely inevitable, as several companies have announced that they’re cutting costs, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

Hallmark Launches Unemployment Sympathy Cards

Cartoon creatures tell jobless to cheer up

(NEWSER) - If unemployment figures don’t depress you enough, try this news: Hallmark now has a line of sympathy cards specifically directed at those who’ve lost their jobs, Mediaite reports. One features a dog suggesting that the recipient not “think of it as losing your job.” Instead, “think of it as a time out between stupid bosses.” Another features sad, jobless cartoon animals queued up at the unemployment office. More»

CBO: 'Profound' Challenges Ahead

Deficit should fall, but employment, growth remain low

(NEWSER) - The picture for 2011 is a glum one—a $1.3 trillion deficit, 9.1% unemployment rate—and it's not going to get much brighter in the next few years, according to a report by the Congressional Budget Office. In it, notes Politico , the CBO warns of "profound budgetary and economic challenges" and growth "well below the economy’s potential." Unemployment won't dip below 8% until 2014, it predicts. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website