George Carlin

Infobox Comedian
name = George Carlin


caption = Carlin in Trenton, New Jersey on April 4 2008
pseudonym =
birth_name = George Denis Patrick Carlin
birth_date = birth date|1937|5|12
birth_place = Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
death_date = death date and age|2008|6|22|1937|5|12
death_place = Santa Monica, California, United States
medium = Stand-up, television, film, books, radio
nationality = American
active = 1956–2008
genre = Improvisational comedy, Character comedy, Observational comedy, Wit/Word play, Satire/Political satire, Black comedy
subject = American culture, American English, everyday life, childhood, recreational drug use, death, human behavior, American politics, religion, profanity
influences = Danny Kaye,cite news|url=http://www.avclub.com/content/node/42195|title=Interviews: George Carlin|last=Murray|first=Noel|date=November 2 2005|publisher="The Onion"|work=The A.V. Club|accessdate=2008-06-23] Lenny Bruce,cite news|url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4136881|title=Comedian and Actor George Carlin|last=Carlin|first=George|date=November 1 2004|publisher=National Public Radio|accessdate=2008-06-23] Carlin, George, "George Carlin on Comedy", "Lenny Bruce", Laugh.com, 2002 ] The Marx Brothers, Spike Jones, Ernie Kovacs, Jerry Lewis, Richard Pryor,cite episode| title = George Carlin| episodelink = Inside the Actors Studio| series = Inside the Actors Studio| serieslink = Inside the Actors Studio| network = Bravo| airdate = 2004-10-31| season = 1| number = 4] Mort Sahl
influenced = Chris Rock, [] Bill Maher, [ [http://www.billmaher.com/?page_id=169 [ Bill Maher » Episode 218: October 01, 2004 ] ] Patrice O'Neal, [ [http://www.comedycentral.com/comedians/browse/o/patrice_oneal.jhtml Comedy Central: Comedians: Patrice O'Neal ] ] Adam Carolla, [ [http://adamradio.wordpress.com/2007/10/ 2007 October « The Official Adam Carolla Show Blog ] ] Colin Quinn, [cite web|title = Colin Quinn |publisher="The Onion"|work=The A.V. Club|url=http://www.avclub.com/content/node/22529 | author=Rabin, Nathan |date=2003-06-18|accessdate=2008-06-23] Steven Wright, [cite web|url=http://www.avclub.com/content/node/54975 |title=Steven Wright | publisher= "The Onion"|work =The A.V. Club|author=Rabin, Nathan|date=2006-11-09|accessdate=2008-06-23] Russell Peters, [ [http://gauntlet.ucalgary.ca/a/story/9549 Gauntlet Entertainment - Comedy Preview: Russell Peters won't a hurt you real bad - 2005-11-24 ] ] Jay Leno,cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20208460,00.html?xid=rss-fullcontentcnn |title=Carlin Remembered: He Helped Other Comics with Drug Problems | publisher= Time Inc.|work =People|author=Breuer, Howard, and Stephen M, Silverman|date=2008-06-24|accessdate=2008-06-24] Ben Stiller, Kevin Smith [cite web|url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/142975/page/1|title=‘A God Who Cussed’|author=Smith, Kevin|authorlink=Kevin Smith|publisher="Newsweek"|date=2008-06-23|accessdate=2008-07-27]
spouse = Brenda Hosbrook
(August 5, 1961 – May 11, 1997) 1 child
Sally Wade
(married June 24, 1998)Entertainment Tonight. [http://www.news4jax.com/entertainmenttonight/16681434/detail.html George Carlin Has Died] ]
notable_work= "Class Clown"
"Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television"
Mr. Conductor
in "Shining Time Station"
Narrator
in "Thomas and Friends"
HBO television specials
Rufus in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey"

| | website = [http://www.georgecarlin.com/ www.georgecarlin.com] | | footnotes = | | grammyawards = Best Comedy Recording
1973 "FM & AM"
Best Spoken Comedy Album
1992 "Jammin' in New York"
2001 "Brain Droppings"
2002 "Napalm & Silly Putty"
americancomedyawards =Funniest Male Performer in a TV Special
1997 '
1998 '
Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy 2001 | britishcomedyawards =

George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, often considered one of the best of all time. He was also an actor and author, and won four Grammy Awards for his comedy albums.

Carlin was noted for his black humor as well as insights on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and various taboo subjects. Carlin and his "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine were central to the 1978 U.S. Supreme Court case "F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation", in which a narrow 5–4 decision by the justices affirmed the government's power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves.

In the 1990s and 2000s, Carlin's stand-up routines focused on the flaws in modern-day America. He often took on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture.

Carlin was placed second on the Comedy Central cable television network list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians, ahead of Lenny Bruce and behind Richard Pryor. [cite web
url = http://www.comedy-zone.net/standup/comedian/index.htm
title = Stand Up Comedy & Comedians
accessdate = 2006-08-10
publisher = Comedy Zone] He was a frequent performer and guest host on "The Tonight Show" during the three-decade Johnny Carson era, and was also the first person to host "Saturday Night Live".

Early life and career

George Carlin [http://www.filmreference.com/film/52/George-Carlin.html George Carlin Biography (1937-) ] ] was born in New York City, [cite web|url=http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Set/3881/9carlin_geo3.gif|title=Milwaukee Police Department Report (date of birth)] the son of Mary Beary (1905–1984), a secretary, and Patrick Carlin (1878–1945), a national advertising manager for the "New York Sun". Carlin was of Irish descent and was raised in the Roman Catholic faith. [cite video| people = Carlin, George| title = It's Bad for Ya!| medium = TV| publisher = HBO| year2 = 2008-03-01] ["Class Clown", "I Used to Be Irish Catholic", 1972, Little David Records.] [cite web|url=http://m.cnn.com/cnn/archive/archive/detail/80004/full|title=George Carlin knows what's 'Bad for Ya'|publisher=CNN.com|author=Associated Press|date=2008-02-28|accessdate=2008-05-24]

Carlin grew up on West 121st Street, in a neighborhood of Manhattan which he later said, in a stand-up routine, he and his friends called "White Harlem", because that sounded a lot tougher than its real name of Morningside Heights. He was raised by his mother, who left his father when Carlin was two months old. [ [http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200806/george-carlins-last-interview "Psychology Today: George Carlin's last interview"] Retrieved Aug 13, 2008] After 3 semesters, at the age of 14, Carlin involuntarily left Cardinal Hayes High School and briefly attended [http://www.bishopdubois.org Bishop Dubois High School] in Harlem.Gonzalez, David. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/nyregion/24hayes.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin George Carlin Didn’t Shun School That Ejected Him] . "The New York Times". June 24 2008.] He later joined the United States Air Force, training as a radar technician. He was stationed at Barksdale AFB in Bossier City, Louisiana.

During this time he began working as a disc jockey on KJOE, a radio station based in the nearby city of Shreveport. He did not complete his Air Force enlistment. Labeled an "unproductive airman" by his superiors, Carlin was discharged on July 29, 1957. In 1959, Carlin and Jack Burns began as a comedy team when both were working for radio station KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas. [cite web|url=http://www.texasradiohalloffame.com/georgecarlin.html|title=Texas Radio Hall of Fame: George Carlin] After successful performances at Fort Worth's beat coffeehouse, The Cellar, Burns and Carlin headed for California in February 1960 and stayed together for two years as a team before moving on to individual pursuits.

1960s

Within weeks of arriving in California in 1960, Burns and Carlin put together an audition tape and created "The Wright Brothers", a morning show on KDAY, Hollywood. The comedy team worked there for three months, honing their material in beatnik coffeehouses at night.cite news|url=http://www.georgecarlin.com/time/time3B.html|title=Timeline - 1960s|work=George Carlin Biography|accessdate=2008-06-25] Years later when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Carlin requested that it be placed in front of the KDAY studios. [ [http://www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/index.cfm?fuseaction=showIndividual&entity_id=19830&source_type=A Kennedy Center: Biographical information for George Carlin ] ] Burns and Carlin recorded their only album, "Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight", in May 1960 at Cosmo Alley in Hollywood.

In the 1960s, Carlin began appearing on television variety shows, notably "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Tonight Show". His most famous routines were:
* The Indian Sergeant ("You wit' the beads... get outta line")
* Stupid disc jockeys ("Wonderful WINO...") — "The Beatles' latest record, when played backwards at slow speed, says 'Dummy! You're playing it backwards at slow speed!'"
* Al Sleet, the "hippie-dippie weatherman" — "Tonight's forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely-scattered light towards morning."
* Jon Carson — the "world never known, and never to be known"Variations on the first three of these routines appear on Carlin's 1967 debut album, "Take Offs and Put Ons", recorded live in 1966 at The Roostertail in Detroit, Michigan. [http://www.georgecarlin.com/home/home.html George Carlin's official site (see Timeline) (accessed August 14 2006)]

During this period, Carlin became more popular as a frequent performer and guest host on "The Tonight Show", initially with Jack Paar as host, then with Johnny Carson. Carlin became one of Carson's most frequent substitutes during the host's three-decade reign. Carlin was also cast on "Away We Go", a 1967 comedy show. His material during his early career, which included impressions, and his appearance, which consisted of suits and short-cropped hair, has been seen as "conventional", particularly when contrasted with his later anti-establishment material. ["ABC World News Tonight"; June 23, 2008.]

Carlin was present at Lenny Bruce's arrest for obscenity. As the police began attempting to detain members of the audience for questioning, and asked Carlin for his identification. Telling the police he did not believe in government issued IDs, he was arrested and taken to jail with Bruce in the same vehicle. [cite episode
title = Profanity
episodelink = List of Bullshit! episodes
series = Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
serieslink = Penn & Teller: Bullshit!
network = Showtime
airdate = 2004-08-12
season = 2
number = 10]

1970s

Eventually, Carlin changed both his routines and his appearance. He lost some TV bookings by dressing strangely for a comedian of the time, wearing faded jeans and sporting long hair, a beard and earrings at a time when clean-cut, well-dressed comedians were the norm. Using his own persona as a springboard for his new comedy, he was presented by Ed Sullivan in a performance of "The Hair Piece," and quickly regained his popularity as the public caught on to his sense of style.In this period he also perfected what is perhaps his best-known routine, "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television", recorded on "Class Clown". Carlin was arrested on July 21 1972 at Milwaukee's Summerfest and charged with violating obscenity laws after performing this routine. [cite web
url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=626471
title=Carlin's naughty words still ring in officer's ears
author=Jim Stingl
publisher=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
date=June 30 2007
accessdate=2008-03-23] The case, which prompted Carlin to refer to the words for a time as, "The Milwaukee Seven", was dismissed in December of that year; the judge declared that the language was indecent, but Carlin had the freedom to say it as long as he caused no disturbance. In 1973, a man complained to the FCC that his son had heard a later, similar routine, "Filthy Words", from "", broadcast one afternoon over WBAI, a Pacifica Foundation FM radio station in New York City. Pacifica received a citation from the FCC, which sought to fine Pacifica for allegedly violating FCC regulations which prohibited broadcasting "obscene" material. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the FCC action, by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was "indecent but not obscene", and the FCC had authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience. ("F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation", 438 U.S. 726 (1978). The court documents contain a complete transcript of the routine.)cite web|url=http://w2.eff.org/legal/cases/FCC_v_Pacifica/fcc_v_pacifica.decision|title=FCC vs. Pacifica Foundation|date=July 3, 1978|publisher=Electronic Frontier Foundation|accessdate=2008-06-23]

The controversy only increased Carlin's fame (or notoriety). Carlin eventually expanded the dirty-words theme with a seemingly interminable end to a performance (ending with his voice fading out in one HBO version, and accompanying the credits in the "Carlin at Carnegie" special for the 1982-83 season), and a set of 49 web pages [ [http://www.georgecarlin.com/dirty/2443.html George Carlin - BBS ] ] organized by subject and embracing his "Incomplete List Of Impolite Words".

Carlin was the first-ever host of NBC's "Saturday Night Live", on October 11, 1975. [cite web | publisher = Geoffrey Hammill, The Museum of Broadcast Communications | url = http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/S/htmlS/saturdaynigh/saturdaynigh.htm | title = Saturday Night Live | date = no date |accessdate = May 17 | accessyear = 2007] (He also hosted "SNL" on November 10, 1984, where he actually appeared in sketches. The first time he hosted, he only appeared to perform stand-up and introduce the guest acts.) The following season, 1976-77, Carlin also appeared regularly on CBS Television's "Tony Orlando & Dawn" variety series.

Carlin unexpectedly stopped performing regularly in 1976, when his career appeared to be at its height. For the next five years, he rarely appeared to perform stand-up, although it was at this time he began doing specials for HBO as part of its "On Location" series. His first two HBO specials aired in 1977 and 1978. It was later revealed that Carlin had suffered the first of his three non-fatal heart attacks during this layoff period.

1980s and 1990s

In 1981, Carlin returned to the stage, releasing "A Place For My Stuff", and he returned to HBO and New York City with the "Carlin at Carnegie" TV special, videotaped at Carnegie Hall and airing during the 1982-83 season. Carlin continued doing HBO specials every year or every other year over the following decade-and-a-half. All of Carlin's albums from this time forward are the HBO specials..

Carlin began a weekly Fox Broadcasting sitcom, "The George Carlin Show", in 1993, playing New York City taxicab driver "George O'Grady". He quickly included a variation of the "Seven Words" in the plot. The show ran 27 episodes through December 1995. [ [http://www.georgecarlin.com/time/time3E.html GeorgeCarlin.com: "1990-1999"] ]

In 1997, his first hardcover book, "Brain Droppings", was published, and sold over 750,000 copies as of 2001.Fact|date=June 2008 Carlin was honored at the 1997 Aspen Comedy Festival with a retrospective "" hosted by Jon Stewart.

In 1999, Carlin played a supporting role as a satirically marketing-oriented Roman Catholic cardinal in filmmaker Kevin Smith's movie "Dogma". He worked with Smith again with a cameo appearance in "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back", and later played an atypically serious role in "Jersey Girl", as the blue collar father of Ben Affleck's character.

2000s

In 2001, Carlin was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual American Comedy Awards.

In December 2003, California U.S. Representative Doug Ose introduced a bill (H.R. 3687) to outlaw the broadcast of Carlin's seven "dirty words", including "compound use (including hyphenated compounds) of such words and phrases with each other or with other words or phrases, and other grammatical forms of such words and phrases (including verb, adjective, gerund, participle, and infinitive forms)". (The bill omits "tits", but includes "asshole", which was not part of Carlin's original routine.) This bill was never voted on; the last action on this bill was its referral to the House Judiciary Committee on the Constitution on January 15, 2004. [Library of Congress THOMAS Website, [http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d108:h3687:] . Retrieved July 20, 2008.]

The following year, Carlin was fired from his headlining position at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas after an altercation with his audience. After a poorly received set filled with dark references to suicide bombings and beheadings, Carlin stated that he could not wait to get out of "this fucking hotel" and Las Vegas in general, claiming he wanted to go back East "where the real people are". He continued to insult his audience, stating

People who go to Las Vegas, you've got to question their fucking intellect to start with. Traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to essentially give your money to a large corporation is kind of fucking moronic. That's what I'm always getting here is these kind of fucking people with very limited intellects.

An audience member shouted back that Carlin should "stop degrading us", at which point Carlin responded "Thank you very much, whatever that was. I hope it was positive; if not, well blow me." He was immediately fired by MGM Grand and soon after announced he would enter rehab for drug and alcohol addiction. [http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Dec-04-Sat-2004/news/25407915.html reviewjournal.com] ]

For years, Carlin had performed regularly as a headliner in Las Vegas. He began a tour through the first half of 2006, and had a new HBO Special on November 5, 2005 entitled "Life is Worth Losing", [ [http://www.hbo.com/events/gcarlin/?ntrack_para1=insidehbo3_text HBO: Carlin: Life is Worth Losing ] ] which was shown live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City. Topics covered included suicide, natural disasters (and the impulse to see them escalate in severity), cannibalism, genocide, human sacrifice, threats to civil liberties in America, and how an argument can be made that humans are inferior to animals.

On February 1, 2006, Carlin mentioned to the crowd, during his "Life is Worth Losing" set at the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California, that he had been discharged from the hospital only six weeks previously for "heart failure" and "pneumonia", citing the appearance as his "first show back".

Carlin provided the voice of Fillmore, a character in the Disney/Pixar animated feature "Cars", which opened in theaters on June 9, 2006. The character Fillmore, who is presented as an anti-establishment hippie, is a VW Microbus with a psychedelic paint job, whose front license plate reads "51237" — Carlin's birthday.

Carlin's last HBO stand-up special, "It's Bad for Ya", aired live on March 1, 2008 from the Wells Fargo Center For The Arts in Santa Rosa, CA. [cite web|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/dvd/2007-09-24-carlin-collection_N.htm|title=George Carlin reflects on 50 years (or so) of 'All My Stuff'|author=Wloszczyna, Susan|publisher="USA Today"|date=2007-09-24|accessdate=2007-10-08] Many of the themes that appeared in this HBO special included "American Bullshit", "Rights", "Death", "Old Age", and "Child Rearing". Carlin had been working the new material for this HBO special for several months prior in concerts all over the country.

On June 18, 2008, four days before his death, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC announced that Carlin would be the 2008 honoree of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to be awarded in November of that year. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/17/AR2008061702519.html Trescott, Jacqueline; "Bleep! Bleep! George Carlin To Receive Mark Twain Humor Prize"; washingtonpost.com; June 18, 2008] ] After consulting with both Carlin's family and PBS (who will air the ceremony), Carlin will still receive the award, becoming its first posthumous recipient.cite news|url=http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2328397920080623?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews|title=George Carlin becomes first posthumous Mark Twain honoree|date=June 23, 2008|publisher=Reuters|accessdate=2008-06-25]

Personal life

In 1961, Carlin married Brenda Hosbrook (born August 5, 1936, died May 11, 1997), whom he had met while touring the previous year, in her parents' living room in Dayton, Ohio. The couple had a daughter, Kelly, in 1963. In 1971, George and Brenda renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas, Nevada. Brenda died of liver cancer a day before Carlin's 60th birthday, in 1997.

Carlin later married Sally Wade on June 24, 1998, and the marriage lasted until his death - two days before their tenth anniversary. [Citation |last= |first= |title=George Carlin's Loved Ones Speak Out |url=http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/06/62841/index.html|publisher="Entertainment Tonight" |date=2008-6-23 |accessdate=2008-06-23]

In December 2004, Carlin announced that he would be voluntarily entering a drug rehabilitation facility to receive treatment for his dependency on alcohol and vicodin. [Citation |last= |first= |title=George Carlin enters rehab |url=http://edition.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/books/12/27/george.carlin/index.html |publisher="CNN" |date=2004-12-29 |accessdate=2008-01-19]

Carlin did not vote and often criticized elections as an illusion of choice. [cite web | publisher = The A.V. Club | url = http://www.avclub.com/content/node/22917 | title = Interviews - George Carlin | date = 10 November 1999 |accessdate = 5 July | accessyear = 2007] He said he last voted for George McGovern, who ran for President in 1972 [cite web | url = http://althouse.blogspot.com/2004/11/george-carlin.html | title = George Carlin.] against Richard Nixon.

Religion

Although raised in the Roman Catholic faith (which he describes anecdotally on the album "Class Clown"), Carlin often denounced the idea of God in interviews and performances, notably with his "Religion" and "There Is No God" routines as heard in "You Are All Diseased". In mockery, he invented the parody religion "Frisbeetarianism" for a newspaper contest.

Carlin also joked in his first book "Brain Droppings" that he worshiped the Sun, one reason being that he could actually see it. This was later mentioned in "You Are All Diseased", along with the statement that he prayed to Joe Pesci (a good friend of his in real life) because "he's a good actor", and "looks like a guy who can get things done!" ["There Is No God", "You Are All Diseased"]

In his HBO special "Complaints and Grievances", Carlin introduced the "Two Commandments", a revised "pocket-sized" list of the Ten Commandments ending with the additional commandment of "Thou shalt keep thy religion to thyself." [George Carlin Quotes. [http://www.skeptic.ca/george_carlin_ten_commandments.htm George Carlin On The Ten Commandments] ]

Themes

Carlin's themes have been known for causing considerable controversy in the American media. His most usual topic was (in his words) humanity's "bullshit", which might include murder, genocide, war, rape, corruption, religion and other aspects of human civilization. He was known for mixing observational humour with larger, social commentary. His delivery frequently treated these subjects in a misanthropic and nihilistic fashion, such as in his statement during the "Life is Worth Losing" show:

Language was a frequent focus of Carlin's work. Euphemisms that in his view, seek to distort and lie, and the use of language he felt was pompous, presumptuous or silly, were often the target of Carlin's routines. When asked on Inside the Actors Studio what turned him on, he responded "Reading about language". When asked what made him most proud about his career, he said the amount his books have sold, close to a million copies.

Carlin also gave special attention to prominent topics in American and Western Culture, such as obsession with fame and celebrity, consumerism, Christianity, political alienation, corporate control, hypocrisy, child raising, fast food diet, news stations, self-help publications, patriotism, sexual taboos, certain uses of technology and surveillance, and the pro-life position, ["Abortion" in the HBO Special "Back in Town"] among many others.

Carlin openly communicated in his shows and in his interviews that his purpose for existence was entertainment, that he was "here for the show". He professed a hearty "schadenfreude" in watching the rich spectrum of humanity slowly self-destruct, in his estimation, of its own design; saying, "When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front-row seat." He acknowledged that this is a very selfish thing, especially since he included large human catastrophes as entertainment. In his "You Are All Diseased" concert, he elaborated somewhat on this, telling the audience, "I have always been willing to put myself at great personal risk for the sake of entertainment. And I've always been willing to put "you" at great personal risk, for the same reason!"

In a late-1990s interview with radio talk show host Art Bell, he remarked about his view of human life: "I think we're already 'circling the drain' as a species, and I'd love to see the circles get a little faster and a little shorter."Fact|date=June 2008

In the same interview, he recounted his experience of a California earthquake in the early-1970s as: "...an amusement park ride. Really, I mean it's such a wonderful thing to realize that you have "absolutely" no control... and to see the dresser move across the bedroom floor unassisted... is just exciting." Later he summarized: "I really think there's great human drama in destruction and nature unleashed and I don't get enough of it."Fact|date=June 2008

A routine in Carlin's 1999 HBO special "You Are All Diseased" focusing on airport security leads up to the statement: "Take a fucking chance! Put a little fun in your life! ... most Americans are soft and frightened and unimaginative and they don't realize there's such a thing as dangerous fun, and they certainly don't recognize a good show when they see one."

Carlin had always included politics as part of his material (along with the wordplay and sex jokes), but by the mid-1980s had become a strident social critic, in both his HBO specials and the book compilations of his material. His HBO viewers got an especially sharp taste of this in his take on the Ronald Reagan administration during the 1988 special "What Am I Doing In New Jersey?" broadcast live from the Park Theatre in Union City, New Jersey.

Since the birth of spam email on the internet, many chain-forwards, usually rant-like and with blunt statements of belief on political and social issues and attributed to being written (or stated) by George Carlin himself, have made continuous rounds in the junk email circuit. While some are just witty-yet-edgy prose that seem like they "could" be genuine, most are either statements by other social commentators or fashioned by a "spam artist", and then purposely mis-attributed to Carlin. The idea behind attributing radical ideals as Carlin's own words serves mostly to make them more attractive to the unknowing reader by falsely exploiting Carlin's popularity for his style of blunt, in-your-face wisdom.

However, the website Snopes, [http://www.snopes.com/glurge/aging.asp snopes.com: George Carlin on Aging ] ] an online resource that debunks historic and present urban legends and myths, has extensively covered these forgeries. Many of the falsely-attributed email attachments have contained material that runs directly opposite of Carlin's viewpoints — with some being especially volatile toward racial groups, gays, women, etc. Carlin himself, when he was made aware of each of these bogus emails, would debunk them on his own website, writing to his readers that "Nothing you see on the Internet is mine unless it comes from one of my albums, books, HBO specials, or appeared on my website", and "it bothers me that some people might believe that I would be capable of writing some of this stuff." [ [http://georgecarlin.com/home/home.html George Carlin ] ]

Death and tribute

On June 22, 2008, Carlin was admitted to St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California after experiencing chest pain. He died later that day at 5:55 p.m. PDT of heart failure at the age of 71. Carlin worked right up until the end. His death occurred just one week after his last performance at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and he had further shows on his itinerary. ETonline.com. [http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/06/62841/index.html George Carlin has died] ] cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,370121,00.html|title=Grammy-Winning Comedian, Counter-Culture Figure George Carlin Dies at 71|date=2008-06-23|accessdate=2008-06-23|publisher= [http://www.foxnews.com Foxnews.com] ] In accordance with his wishes, Carlin was cremated, with his ashes scattered, and no public or religious services of any kind were held. [ [http://www.georgecarlin.com/home/home.html George gets the last word] Retrieved on June 28, 2008] [ [http://www.dailynews.com/breakingnews/ci_9708481 Private services for Carlin] ] Two of the networks he performed on changed their schedule in tribute to Carlin. HBO devoted several hours to broadcast eleven of Carlin's 14 HBO specials from June 25 to June 28, 2008, including a twelve-hour marathon block on their "HBO Comedy" channel. Meanwhile, NBC scheduled the premiere episode of "Saturday Night Live" which Carlin hosted. [ [http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/1021949,carlintv062408.article "HBO,'SNL' to replay classic Carlin this week"] Retrieved on June 24, 2008 ] [ [http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/23/george-carlins-televised-stage/ George Carlin Televised] Retrieved on June 23, 2008] [ [http://www.hbo.com/apps/schedule/ScheduleServlet?ACTION_TODAY=TODAY HBO schedule] Retrieved on June 27, 2008]

Both Sirius Satellite Radio's "Raw Dog Comedy" and XM Satellite Radio's "XM Comedy" channels ran a memorial marathon of George Carlin recordings the day following his death. Another tribute to his memory was the "Doonesbury" comic strip on Sunday July 27, 2008. [ [http://www.doonesbury.com/strip/dailydose/index.html?uc_full_date=20080727 Doonesbury comic strip, 27 July 2008] Retrieved 27 August 2008]

"Lewis Black's Root of All Evil" is dedicating the entire second season to Carlin.

An episode of "Larry King Live" paid tribute to Carlin, featuring comics Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Roseanne Barr, and Lewis Black. Carlin's daughter and brother were also interviewed by King. The next day, "The New York Times" published a tribute to Carlin written by Jerry Seinfeld. [Citation |last=Seinfeld |first=Jerry |title=Dying Is Hard. Comedy Is Harder. |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/opinion/24seinfeld.html?hp |publisher="The New York Times" |date=2008-06-24 |accessdate=2008-08-09]

Collection of works

Discography

Filmography

Audiobooks

* "Brain Droppings"
* "Napalm and Silly Putty"
* "More Napalm & Silly Putty"
* "George Carlin Reads To You"
* "When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?"

Miscellaneous

*In the "Simpsons" episode "Homie the Clown," Krusty the Clown is told he's being sued by Carlin for plagiarizing the "Seven Words You Cannot Say On TV". Krusty tries to defend himself by claiming that his seven dirty words were "entirely different" from Carlin's. [cite web|url=http://www.snpp.com/episodes/2F12.html|title=The Simpsons Archive: (2F12) Homer the Clown]
*In the second season episode of "Everybody Hates Chris", titled "Everybody Hates Dirty Jokes", Chris gets suspended from school for telling jokes based on Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" routine.
*In an episode of "That '70s Show", the disc jockey, Donna, is fired from her job and replaced by a girl who is willing to show more skin in advertisements. In order to get them back, her boyfriend, Eric, convinces Donna to trick the new girl into playing George Carlin's "Seven Dirty Words" routine on the air to get her fired. Also, Eric says that after listening to it, he can say a number which is the number of the dirty word Carlin uses. When swearing, Eric only uses numbers.
*Rick Moranis portrayed Carlin in several sketches on the late-night television comedy "Second City Television" (SCTV) in the early 1980s.

References

External links

* [http://www.georgecarlin.com/ Official Website]
*
* [http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/entertainers/comic/george-carlin/ Rotten Library - George Carlin]
* [http://www.billhicks.co.uk/faithinaction/carlin.html 1999 interview originally on CDNOW.com] by Steve Holtje
* [http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/george_carlin/ George Carlin center] at CNN
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/23/usa1 Tribute to George Carlin in Guardian]
*
* [http://www.laughterlog.com/Personalities/per-gcarlin.HTM Biography/Discography/Publications at laughterlog.com]

Persondata
NAME= Carlin, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Carlin, George Denis Patrick
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Comedian, actor, writer
DATE OF BIRTH= May 12, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH= Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH= June 22, 2008
PLACE OF DEATH= Santa Monica, California, United States