Carlin, George 1937-2008

PERSONAL

Full name, George Denis Patrick Carlin; born May 12, 1937, in New York, NY; died of heart failure, June 22, 2008, in Santa Monica CA. Comedian. With a distinctive brand of comedy that weathered more than five decades, Carlin delivered more than a good joke. Caustic, irreverent, and pessimistic, he was a fierce critic of mainstream culture. Carlin dropped out of high school and joined the Air Force. At age 19, while in the Air Force, Carlin landed his first job in the entertainment business, working as a radio station disc jockey. After his discharge in 1957, he found radio work in Boston and Fort Worth, Texas. In 1960 he teamed with Jack Burns and developed a moderately successful nightclub act that toured top stages around the country. After parting ways in 1962, Carlin found solo success, performing in major nightclubs and on television alongside entertainers such as Ed Sullivan, Jackie Gleason, Steve Allen, Mike Douglas, and Carol Burnett. In 1967 Carlin released his first comedy album, Take-Offs and Put-Ons, to rave reviews. By the age of 35, Carlin had released a Grammy-award winning album, FM & AM, appeared countless times with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show, hosted the first-ever Saturday Night Live, and became a cable-television star with his stand-up routines on HBO. Carlin's scathing commentary was his calling card. A radio broadcast of an uncensored version of his profane routine "Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Television," from his album Class Clown, became the centerpiece of a debate on radio censorship that made it all the way to the Supreme Court in 1978. The court upheld the Federal Communications Commission's ruling prohibiting the words as indecent; Carlin subsequently refused to drop the routine and was arrested several times after performing it onstage. Carlin also acted in films, with roles in Car Wash in 1976, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure in 1989, The Prince of Tides in 1991, and Dogma in 1999. In addition to receiving four Grammy Awards, Carlin was inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame in 1994, and only days before his death, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announced that Carlin was to be awarded the prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

PERIODICALS

Variety, June 30, 2008.

People Weekly, July 7, 2008.