Get the barstool ready – Norm is coming.
That would be actor George Wendt, who played legendary barfly Norm Peterson on the hit TV comedy ‘Cheers,’ which aired on NBC from 1982 to 1993.
Wendt is the headliner of the seventh annual Frank Wilcox Film Festival in De Soto and Hillsboro on Saturday (March 16).
“Ticket sales have been going really well,” said event organizer Jim Thomas, who started the festival in 2013 to honor the late Wilcox, a prolific character actor in Hollywood films and TV series from the 1940s until his death in 1974.
Thomas learned that Wilcox was born in De Soto on March 13, 1907, and lived there through age 7.
“So far, so good in terms of we’re expecting a good turnout for George Wendt,” he said. “We seem to be getting calls from all over the place. We know there’s some people coming in from out of town, and a lot of local folks who normally come to the event, so it seems to be a good mix of people.”
Wendt, 70, will make two appearances Saturday, starting with a “Sneak Peek” from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Russell House in Hillsboro. There fans can meet Wendt, who will sign autographs while radio stations KJFF (AM 1400) and KTJJ (FM 98.5) provide live coverage.
Then Wendt will be the special guest for dinner, film highlights and an interview from 6-9 p.m. Saturday at the De Soto Knights of Columbus, 13225 Hwy. E. The cost to attend is $100 per ticket (purchased in advance at frankwilcox.org) and attendance will be limited to 150, Thomas said.
Proceeds from the event will go to the De Soto Knights of Columbus Council 1185 to benefit the council’s scholarship fund.
Last year’s event, featuring Loretta Swit from the TV series “M*A*S*H,” raised just over $3,000 to provide scholarships to six St. Pius X High School students.
The evening with Swit drew a record 100 attendees last year and Thomas is preparing for more this time.
“We’re really close,” to selling out, he said. “In some cases the people buy the tables and bring friends at the last minute, so we’re not exactly sure what the count would be, but we’re planning on a couple more tables than we had last year.”
Prior to the dinner, attendees can have their picture taken with Wendt and then get a print of the photo for autographs at the end of the evening. Fo-Jo Studio will take the photos and make the prints.
Attendees can expect a treasure trove of ‘Normisms,” memorable lines Wendt delivered in his 11 seasons on “Cheers.”
“He had a classic line just about in every episode,” Thomas said, “when he would walk in and the whole bar would yell, ‘Norm!’ and somebody would say, ‘Hey Norm, what’s going down?’ And he would say, ‘These two butt-cheeks on that barstool.’ Something like that. Everybody has their favorite Normisms.”
The event also will truly live up to its name this year, with three Wilcox films broadcast locally leading up to the Saturday schedule. First was “Santa Fe Trail” broadcast Wednesday, followed by “Lady Gangster” at 7 p.m. tonight (Thursday) and “The Miracle of the Bells” at 7 p.m. Friday. The movies are airing on Jefferson College’s TV station, JCTV.
Thomas noted that the films include such stars as Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan (a personal friend of Wilcox’s), Jackie Gleason and Frank Sinatra.
Previous festival headliners have included Donna Douglas in 2013, Jerry Mathers in 2014, Sandy Duncan in 2015, Dawn Wells in 2016 and Erik Estrada in 2017.
Thomas said the word is out about how much the celebrities enjoy their visits to De Soto.
“It’s always interesting to talk to the stars or their representatives because we found out that in the past we’ve had such good response, not just from the public but also from our celebrities as well,” he said. “Before George agreed to do (this event), his people called Loretta Swit’s people to get her take on what the event was like, and (before that) Loretta Swit called Erik Estrada’s folks.
“It’s been great because the people who have come here have had such a great time and given us a great recommendation to anybody else who’s considering coming. So that’s really helped us to get some top-line folks to come to De Soto.”
For more information, visit frankwilcox.org or the festival’s page on Facebook.