Dark Days: ‘Cheers’ Bartender Gets a Pink Slip

Is nothing sacred anymore? Apparently not. Eddie Doyle, the real-life inspiration for Sam Malone and Co., has been laid off from Boston’s famous “Cheers” bar after 35 years. Doyle had stayed on long past the finale of the television series he helped launch, and was a fixture on the Boston tourism circuit.

“At the height of the show’s popularity,” the AP story notes, “3,000 people would pass through the bar daily and 5,000 on weekends.” A friend and fellow bartender called it “the end of an era,” and praised Doyle’s gift for chatting with customers: “If you want to feel good about yourself you go in and see Eddie Doyle, whether you were a total stranger or a longtime friend.” (Via The Remote Island)

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