George Carlin

AKA George Denis Carlin

Born: 12-May-1937

Birthplace: Manhattan, NY

Died: 22-Jun-2008

Location of death: Santa Monica, CA [1]

Cause of death: Heart Failure

Remains: Cremated (ashes scattered)



Gender: Male

Religion: Atheist

Race or Ethnicity: White

Sexual orientation: Straight

Occupation: Comic, Actor

Nationality: United States

Executive summary: Seven Dirty Words

Military service: USAF (radar technician)

George Carlin dropped out of high school and later joined the US Air Force, where he was court-martialled three times. He worked as a disk jockey before receiving an honorable discharge, then started a comedy team with Jack Burns (later of Burns & Schreiber). After the duo broke up, Carlin's solo stand-up career was successful, and he became famous on TV as a dorky-looking, suit-wearing, straight-laced comedian, appearing often on the Merv Griffin and Mike Douglas talk shows. At the time, instead of airing reruns all summer, the networks ran "summer replacement series", and Carlin was a writer and regular on the summer shows Kraft Summer Music Hall in 1966 and Away We Go in 1967. His TV bits included the hippie-dippie weatherman, while in nightclubs Carlin perfected his wildly popular "Seven words you can't say on TV" (shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker and tits) and evolved a counterculture image. Within a few years he was dropping acid, snorting coke, and arrested at Summerfest in Milwaukee for indecent language on stage.

Carlin's comedy specials ran on HBO for 20+ years, and his books include Braindroppings and Napalm & Silly Putty. A less than Carlin-funny George Carlin Show sitcom ran on Fox 1994-95. Carlin hosted the first Saturday Night Live, and said he was high on cocaine that entire week. He suffered heart attacks in 1978, 1982, and 1991. He joked that he was a devout "Frisbeetarian", believing that at death our souls are thrown onto the roof, and can never be retrieved.

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