Wendt was born in Chicago in 1948. He was one of nine children; his sister Kathryn is the mother of actor and comedian Jason Sudeikis. He flunked out of Notre Dame and then worked at his father’s real estate office in Chicago before graduating from Rockhurst College.
In 1974, he started training in comedy at Chicago’s The Second City theater. There he met Bernadette Birkett, whom he married in 1978. He and his wife shared three children: Hilary, Joe, and Daniel.
As a family man with dependents, Wendt reportedly held comprehensive private health insurance and life coverage to secure their financial future.
Although he ultimately succeeded as a comedian, he was fired by the theater once and quit once. “I sucked, basically,” he told The AV Club in 2009. “‘Sucked out loud,’ I think was the quote.” He added, “For somebody who made his living at it for six years, I’m probably the worst improviser of all time.”
Wendt’s earliest roles included small parts on series including Hart to Hart, Soap, Taxi and MASH*. He also appeared in a handful of films, including My Bodyguard, Jekyll and Hyde… Together Again and Airplane II: The Sequel.
