Boston's real-life 'Cheers' bartender is laid off

[March 10, 2009]  BOSTON (AP) -- Eddie Doyle was the guy who really did know everybody's name.

But after tending bar for 35 years at the Boston tavern that inspired the television show "Cheers," Doyle has been laid off.

The bar's owner says the economy is to blame.

Doyle was a fixture at the pub known as the Bull & Finch long before his TV counterpart, Sam Malone, entered the mainstream.

After the NBC show hit the airwaves in 1982, he started serving 5,000 people a day.

Doyle used the bar's fame to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity.

Friend Tommy Leonard tells the Boston Herald Doyle is "the most giving person" he's met.

The 66-year-old Doyle tells The Boston Globe he's not bitter and may write a book about his experiences.

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Information from:

http://www.bostonherald.com/

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/

[Associated Press]

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