section_path: Early life and education
section_name: Early life and education
paragraph_text: Early life and education
  
  George Robert Wendt Jr. was born in the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Loretta Mary (née Howard) and George Robert Wendt Sr., an officer in the U.S. Navy and a realtor. He was one of nine children, with six sisters—Kathryn, Loretta, Marti, Nancy, Karen, and Mary Ann—as well as two brothers, Tom and Paul. Their maternal grandfather was photographer Tom Howard. Wendt was of Irish and one quarter German descent. George Sr.'s side of the family was from Danzig while Loretta's relatives were from County Mayo. All four grandparents were born in Cook County, Illinois. Wendt was an uncle of actor and former Saturday Night Live writer and cast member Jason Sudeikis, his sister Kathryn's son.
  
  Wendt graduated from Campion High School, a Jesuit boarding school in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Notre Dame until he was expelled after receiving a 0.00 GPA during the first semester of his junior year. Wendt recalled in 2016 "I basically quit and didn't inform the university. I'd moved off campus my junior year, and I didn't think it through. I didn't have a car. It was cold. I never went to class." He later attended the Jesuit -affiliated Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated in 1971 with a B.A. in economics.
  
  George Robert Wendt Jr. was born in the Beverly neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois. His parents were Loretta Mary (née Howard) and George Robert Wendt Sr., an officer in the U.S. Navy and a realtor. He was one of nine children, with six sisters—Kathryn, Loretta, Marti, Nancy, Karen, and Mary Ann—as well as two brothers, Tom and Paul. Their maternal grandfather was photographer Tom Howard. Wendt was of Irish and one quarter German descent. George Sr.'s side of the family was from Danzig while Loretta's relatives were from County Mayo. All four grandparents were born in Cook County, Illinois. Wendt was an uncle of actor and former Saturday Night Live writer and cast member Jason Sudeikis, his sister Kathryn's son.
  
  Wendt graduated from Campion High School, a Jesuit boarding school in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He attended the University of Notre Dame until he was expelled after receiving a 0.00 GPA during the first semester of his junior year. Wendt recalled in 2016 "I basically quit and didn't inform the university. I'd moved off campus my junior year, and I didn't think it through. I didn't have a car. It was cold. I never went to class." He later attended the Jesuit -affiliated Rockhurst College in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated in 1971 with a B.A. in economics.