Wendt's publicist, Melissa Nathan, confirmed that he had died earlier that morning in a statement shared with PEOPLE

The cause of death for Cheers star George Wendt is now known. The actor died from cardiac arrest, according to the death certificate obtained by TMZ.

When George Wendt, the actor who played Norm, died recently, people of a certain generation remembered a comfortable, if not inspiring, presence. Norm had a job he didn’t like (accounting) and a wife he avoided (Vera), but he did have friends in a neighborhood pub (Cheers) in Boston where everybody did know his name.