Boston's Real-Life 'Cheers' Bartender Is Laid Off

Eddie Doyle was the guy who really did know everybody's name, at least when he started working at the tavern that inspired the television show "Cheers."

Eddie Doyle was laid off at his bartending job at the Bull & Finch on Beacon Street, the same bar that inspired the 'Cheers' Bar. He has become a Boston institution over the last 35 years, and was a consultant on the TV show Cheers.

(John Tlumacki/Boston Globe /Landov )
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To the tens of thousands of tourists that later passed through, Doyle remained behind the bar to offer a smile, a beer and tips about where to find the Boston that wasn't shown on TV.

Now Doyle is out of a job, laid off from "Cheers" after 35 years.

The bar's owner has said a tough economy and sagging business forced the move, which was one of several layoffs.

Doyle said he's not bitter about being laid off, just surprised and a little sad.

"This bar, for me ... it was not just another job," Doyle said. "It was the perfect job."

Longtime friend and lifelong bartender Tommy Leonard called Doyle's exit "the end of an era," and said Doyle was one of the most giving men he knows.

"He just has a way to connect," Leonard said. "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."

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Doyle, who was laid off in February, has spent the last few weeks cleaning out his office, and reflecting on what he considered a great run.

He began working at the pub in 1974, after a few years bouncing around the advertising world as a graphic artist. He'd worked occasionally as a barkeep and said the fast pace and personalities sucked him in. He took a regular shift at the restaurant above the bar, then moved downstairs, turning down a chance to head the graphics department at a now-defunct department store chain, a decision he never regretted.

"I'd probably be in a nursing home right now," he said with a laugh.

Doyle, who will give his age only as around 66, describes his job in the early years as "ringmaster." People off all stripes, from college professors to working men, would meet to hash out the day's events, give each other a hard time and occasionally cause mischief. He recalled a group of regulars who got in trouble racing wheelchairs at a local hospital where he was staying with an illness, just before stopping in to surprise him with a party on the night "Cheers" debuted.