Edward Holyoke
President of Harvard College
Term	1737 – 1769
Predecessor	Benjamin Wadsworth
Successor	John Winthrop acting
Born	(1689-06-26)June 26, 1689 unknown
Died	June 1, 1769(1769-06-01) (aged 79) unknown

Edward Holyoke (June 26, 1689 – June 1, 1769) was an early American clergyman, and the 9th President of Harvard College.

Background[link]

Edward Holyoke was the son of a wealthy and influential businessman, Elizur Holyoke Jr, who held several local town offices and served in the legislature. He is also the grandson of Elizur Holyoke Sr, of Springfield, MA - notable due to the fact Mount Holyoke and Holyoke, MA are attributed to him.

Edward was educated at North Grammar School, Boston, and then went directly to Harvard College, graduating in 1705 at age 16, he also gave the class' Bachelor's Oration. While at Harvard, Holyoke “had had the distinction, as an undergraduate, of having more fines and black marks recorded against his name for breaches of discipline than any student of his day. In 1708, he received his M.A from Harvard College. From 1709-1712 he was the Librarian at Harvard and between 1712-1716 he was a tutor (instructor), and (1713 - 1716) he was a Fellow of the Corporation (Harvard).

In 1714 he also became a candidate for colleague pastor with Rev. Samuel Cheever of Marblehead, but the majority of the church favored another candidate. The minority that favored Holyoke withdrew and formed a second church which Edward was ordained as pastor for the Second Church of Marblehead on April 25, 1716, and he served the Second Church of Marblehead for 21 years.

In 1736, he was appointed and then approved by Governor Belcher as the choice as President of Harvard College. The General Court agreed to pay Marblehead Society 140 pounds "to encourage and facilitate the settlement of a minister there ..." Holyoke became the 9th President of Harvard College (1737–1769), succeeding after Benjamin Wadsworth death. Holyoke's administration began during the religious revivals of the Great Awakening and lasted until the revolutionary controversy with England was entering its final phase. He immediately gained notoriety with his election-day sermon delivered before the Governor and General Court in which he boldly declared:

“All forms of government originate from the people . . . As these forms have originated from the people, doubtless they may be changed whensoever the body of them choose, to make such and alteration.”[1]

and as a liberal in politics, Holyoke was also an eloquent spokesman of new spirit of toleration that was softening the strict tenets of New England Calvinism. To minister or pastors, he had insisted on occasions, that governments ;

“should have no hand in making any laws with regard to the spiritual affairs of their people . . . [and] have no right to impose their interpretations of the laws of Christ upon their flocks . . . Every Man therefore is to judge for himself in these things.”[1]

At first, there were about 100 students at Harvard being taught by the president and four tutors. As president, Holyoke was essentially the chairman of the Harvard Corporation, for which he is responsible to the day-to-day operation of the college, but he was also expected to teach. During Holyoke's administration several reforms were undertaken to improve the intellectual climate at the College. The ancient system of each tutor taking a college class through all the subjects in a curriculum was ended, and by 1767 tutors had become specialists instructing students in particular subjects. Moreover, merit, rather than solely birth and social standing, became the criteria for entrance to Harvard College. College history prizes were offered for scholarships, and the custom of flogging students for college offenses was abandoned. Apparently, teaching was not limited to the college, but included studies at his home;

“The Harvard that John Adams went to in 1750 was undergoing one of its periodic reformations, this time under the presidency of Edward Holyoke, class of 1705.” "Through John Adams’ four years at Harvard, the first Saturday “was given over to the study of theology under President Holyoke’s supervision.”[1]

Holyoke encouraged broader intellectual exploration beyond curriculum and disciplinary changes. In 1755, the Dudleian Lecture was given for the first time by the College President. In 1756, in order to improve English oratory, a system of public exhibitions was introduced. Lasting for over a century, selected students participated in debates, orations, and dialogues in the English language. In 1761, John Winthrop, the Hollis Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, arranged the first American astronomical expedition to observe Venus's transit over the Sun. While not considered an intellect by his contemporaries, Holyoke did strengthen Harvard’s academic program in mathematics and science, and during his tenure Harvard established the first laboratory for experimental physics in North America.[3]

Holyoke's presidency was not without some controversy. In the early 1740s, the revivalist George Whitefield came to Cambridge to preach. Although Holyoke at first welcomed Whitefield to Harvard College, he eventually turned against him because Holyoke perceived Whitefield's religious views as excessive, inspiring division among families and local churches. Moreover, Holyoke took exception to Whitefield's labeling of Harvard College as a house of impiety and sin. In 1744, Holyoke and other members of the faculty defended the college and warned the local churches against Whitefield's views in The Testimony of the President, Professors, Tutors and Hebrew Instructor of Harvard College, Cambridge, Against the Reverend Mr. George Whitefield, And His Conduct. This rebuttal to Whitefield sparked a yearlong pamphlet war between both sides. Despite Holyoke's differences with George Whitefield, when a fire destroyed the College's original library twenty years later in 1764, Whitefield came to the College's aid and donated books and money to help rebuild the library collection.[3][4]

“The fact that Harvard had moved a long way from the strict faith of the fathers, under Edward’s “catholic temper” all manner of heresies flourished, or if they were not encouraged, were not firmly suppressed. Yale was the only stronghold of orthodoxy.” “Much was said, both in approval and censure of the President’s “catholic temper,” which soon affected the intellectual climate of the college. He had, moreover, “a good spirit of government.”[1]

While at times he was a firm disciplinarian, many considered him a kindly man “of a noble commanding presence.”[1] In his company students must stand or uncover. His girth won him the irreverent student nickname of “guts.” He was characterized as an honest man of sound judgment and zealous in the performance of his duties. He had an ability to deal with a society of scholars, Holyoke's leadership led Harvard College through turbulent and changing times. Under his administration, Harvard College prospered and flourished. The number of students increased, gifts and endowments were added to the treasury, and intellectual training was improved. During Holyoke's tenure the College itself also expanded. Holden Chapel (1744) and Hollis Hall (1763) were built.

Edward Holyoke was President of Harvard College for thirty-two years, which included teaching all but one Massachusetts Revolutionary leaders - Samuel Adams (A.B. 1740), James Otis (A.B. 1743), Jonathan Mayhew (A.B. 1744), Thomas Cushing (A.B. 1744), James Bowdoin (A.B. 1745), John Hancock (A.B. 1754), John Adams (A.B. 1755), Joseph Warren (A.B. 1759) and Josiah Quincy Jr. (A.B. 1763). Other notable New England names were John Wentworth, Samuel Quincy, Moses Hemmenway, Charles Cushing, Nathan Webb, William Browne, Philip Livingston, David Sewall, Daniel Treadwell, Tristam Dalton.[1][2] His long tenure as president was the longest in Harvard's history, until Charles Eliot began his record-setting forty-year presidency a century later. However, Holyoke is still considered the oldest person to occupy the presidency of Harvard.

Sources[link]

[1] John Adams, 1735 to 1784, Page Smith, Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY 1962, I, 14; 15; 16;18.
[2] The Holyoke Dairies, 1709–1856, G.F. Dow, Library of Congress, and also the Los Angeles Public Library, 215 pages, 1911.
[3] Biographical Sketches of Graduates of Harvard University .., John Langdon Sibley and Clifford K Shipton, Cambridge & Boston, 1873, V, 270.
[4] “Holyoke, Edward, 1689-1789. Papers of Edward Holyoke: an Inventory,” Harvard University Archives, 2005, UAI 15.870.
[5] Holyoke, A North American Family 1637 - 1992, John Gibbs Holyoke, Gateway Press, Inc. (Baltimore, 1993), First.

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2011)

George Carlin
Carlin in Trenton, New Jersey on April 4, 2008
Birth name	George Denis Patrick Carlin
Born	(1937-05-12)May 12, 1937 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	June 22, 2008(2008-06-22) (aged 71) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books, radio
Nationality	American
Years active	1956–2008
Genres	Character comedy, observational comedy, wit/word play, satire/political satire, black comedy, surreal humor, sarcasm, blue comedy
Subject(s)	American culture, American English, everyday life, atheism, recreational drug use, death, philosophy, human behavior, American politics, parenting, children, religion, profanity, psychology, anarchism, race relations, old age, pop culture, self-deprecation, childhood, family
Influences	Danny Kaye,[1][2] Jonathan Winters,[2] Lenny Bruce,[3][4] Richard Pryor,[5] Jerry Lewis,[2][5] Marx Brothers,[2][5] Mort Sahl,[4] Spike Jones,[5] Ernie Kovacs,[5] Ritz Brothers[2] Monty Python[5]
Influenced	Chris Rock,[6] Jerry Seinfeld,[7] Bill Hicks, Jim Norton, Sam Kinison, Louis C.K.,[8] Lewis Black,[9] Jon Stewart,[10] Stephen Colbert,[11] Bill Maher,[12] Denis Leary, Patrice O'Neal,[13] Adam Carolla,[14] Colin Quinn,[15] Steven Wright,[16], Mitch Hedberg,[17] Russell Peters,[18] Jay Leno,[19] Ben Stiller,[19] Kevin Smith[20]
Spouse	Brenda Hosbrook (August 5, 1961 – May 11, 1997) (her death) 1 child Sally Wade (June 24, 1998 – June 22, 2008) (his death)[21]
Notable works and roles	Class Clown "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" Rufus in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure and Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey Narrator for Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends and "Mr. Conductor" on Shining Time Station The George Carlin Show
Signature
Website	www.georgecarlin.com
Grammy Awards Best Comedy Recording 1972 FM & AM 2009 It's Bad For Ya (posthumous) Best Spoken Comedy Album 1993 Jammin' in New York 2001 Brain Droppings 2002 Napalm & Silly Putty American Comedy Awards Funniest Male Performer in a TV Special 1997 George Carlin: Back in Town 1998 George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy 2001

George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, actor and writer/author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums.^[22]

Carlin was noted for his black humor as well as his thoughts 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.

The first of his fourteen stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977. In 1988, the 1990s and 2000s, Carlin's routines focused on socio-cultural criticism of modern American society. He often commented on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture. His final HBO special, It's Bad for Ya, was filmed less than four months before his death.

In 2004, Carlin placed second on the Comedy Central list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians of all time, ahead of Lenny Bruce and behind Richard Pryor.^[23] He was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the three-decade Johnny Carson era, and hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live. In 2008, he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Early life[link]

Carlin was born in Manhattan,^[24][25] the second son of Mary (Beary), a secretary, and Patrick Carlin, a national advertising manager for the New York Sun.^[26] Carlin was of Irish descent and was raised a Roman Catholic.^[27][28][29]

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.^[30] He attended Corpus Christi School, a Roman Catholic parish school of the Corpus Christi Church, in Morningside Heights.^[31][32] After three semesters, at the age of 15, Carlin involuntarily left Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx and briefly attended Bishop Dubois High School in Harlem.^[33] Carlin had a difficult relationship with his mother and often ran away from home.^[2] He later joined the United States Air Force and was trained as a radar technician. He was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana.

During this time he began working as a disc jockey at radio station KJOE, 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. During his time in the Air Force he was court martialed three times, and also received many disciplinary punishments.^[34]

Career[link]

In 1959, Carlin and Jack Burns began as a comedy team when both were working for radio station KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas.^[35] 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[link]

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 in Hollywood. The comedy team worked there for three months, honing their material in beatnik coffeehouses at night.^[36] 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 near the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street.^[37] Burns and Carlin recorded their only album, Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight, in May 1960 at Cosmo Alley in Hollywood.^[36]

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.^[38]

Carlin with singer Buddy Greco in Away We Go. The summer replacement show also starred drummer Buddy Rich.

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 in Away We Go, a 1967 comedy show that aired on CBS.^[39] His material during his early career and his appearance, which consisted of suits and short-cropped hair, had been seen as "conventional," particularly when contrasted with his later anti-establishment material.^[40]

Carlin was present at Lenny Bruce's arrest for obscenity. As the police began attempting to detain members of the audience for questioning, they 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.^[41]

1970s[link]

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.^[42] 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 Federal Communications Commission after listening with his son to a similar routine, "Filthy Words", from Occupation: Foole, broadcast one afternoon over WBAI, a Pacifica Foundation FM radio station in New York City. Pacifica received a citation from the FCC that sought to fine the company for violating FCC regulations that 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 that 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.)^[43]

The controversy only increased Carlin's fame. 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^[44] organized by subject and embracing his "Incomplete List Of Impolite Words."

It was on-stage during a rendition of his "Dirty Words" routine that Carlin learned that his previous comedy album FM & AM had won the Grammy. Midway through the performance on the album Occupation: Foole, he can be heard thanking someone for handing him a piece of paper. He then exclaims "Shit!" and proudly announces his win to the audience.

Carlin hosted the premiere broadcast of NBC's Saturday Night Live, on October 11, 1975, the only episode as of at least 2007 in which the host had no involvement (at his request) in sketches.^[45] 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 performed stand-up, although it was at this time that he began doing specials for HBO as part of its On Location series. He later revealed that he had suffered the first of three heart attacks during this layoff period.^[5] His first two HBO specials aired in 1977 and 1978.

1980s and 1990s[link]

In 1981, Carlin returned to the stage, releasing A Place For My Stuff and returning 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 from the HBO specials.

In concert at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

He hosted SNL for the second time on November 10, 1984, this time appearing in several sketches. Carlin's acting career was primed with a major supporting role in the 1987 comedy hit Outrageous Fortune, starring Bette Midler and Shelley Long; it was his first notable screen role after a handful of previous guest roles on television series. Playing drifter Frank Madras, the role poked fun at the lingering effect of the 1960s counterculture. In 1989, he gained popularity with a new generation of teens when he was cast as Rufus, the time-traveling mentor of the titular characters in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, and reprised his role in the film sequel Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey as well as the first season of the cartoon series. From 1991 to 1995, he narrated the American version of the children's show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, and played "Mr. Conductor" on Shining Time Station from 1991 to 1993. Also in 1991, Carlin had a major supporting role in the movie The Prince of Tides, which starred Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand.

Carlin began a weekly Fox sitcom, The George Carlin Show, in 1993, playing New York City taxicab driver George O'Grady. The show, created and written by The Simpsons co-creator Sam Simon, ran 27 episodes through December 1995.^[46]

In his final book, the posthumously published Last Words, Carlin said about The George Carlin Show, "I was incredibly happy when the show was canceled. I was frustrated that it had taken me away from my true work."^[47]

In 1997, his first hardcover book, Brain Droppings, was published. The book sold nearly 900,000 copies and spent 40 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. ^[48] Carlin was honored at the 1997 Aspen Comedy Festival with a retrospective, George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy, hosted by Jon Stewart.

In 1999, Carlin played a supporting role as a satirical 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[link]

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 (Republican), introduced a bill (H.R. 3687) to outlaw the broadcast of Carlin's "seven dirty words,"^[49] 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.^[49]

For years, Carlin had performed regularly as a headliner in Las Vegas, but in 2005 he was fired from his headlining position at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, 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, 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 alcohol and prescription painkiller addiction.^[50][51]

He began a tour through the first half of 2006 following the airing of his thirteenth HBO Special on November 5, 2005, entitled Life is Worth Losing,^[52] which was shown live from the Beacon Theatre in New York City and in which he stated early on: "I've got 341 days of sobriety," referring to the rehab he entered after being fired from MGM. Topics covered included suicide, natural disasters (and the desire 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 other animals.

On February 1, 2006, during his Life Is Worth Losing set at the Tachi Palace Casino in Lemoore, California, Carlin mentioned to the crowd 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 and also the Zip Code for George, Iowa. In 2007, Carlin provided the voice of the wizard in Happily N'Ever After, along with Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Andy Dick, and Wallace Shawn, his last film.

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, California.^[53] The themes that appeared in this HBO special included "American Bullshit," "Rights," "Death," "Old Age," and "Child Rearing." In his routine, he brought to light many of the problems facing America, and he told his audience to cut through the "bullshit" of the world and "enjoy the carnival." Carlin had been working on the new material for this HBO special for several months prior in concerts all over the country.

Personal life[link]

In 1961, Carlin married Brenda Hosbrook (August 5, 1936 - May 11, 1997), whom he had met while touring the previous year. The couple's only child, a daughter named Kelly, was born on June 15, 1963.^[54] In 1971, George and Brenda renewed their wedding vows in Las Vegas. 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.^[55]

Carlin often criticized elections as an illusion of choice.^[56] He said the last time he voted was 1972, for George McGovern who ran for President against Richard Nixon.^[57]

Religion[link]

Although raised in the Roman Catholic faith, which he describes anecdotally on the albums FM & AM and Class Clown, religion, God, and particularly religious adherents were frequent subjects of criticism in Carlin's routines. He described his opinion of the flaws of organized religion in interviews and performances, notably with his "Religion" and "There Is No God" routines as heard in You Are All Diseased. His views on religion are also mentioned in his last HBO stand up show It's Bad for Ya where he mocked the traditional swearing on the Bible as "bullshit,"^[58] "make believe," and "kids' stuff." In It's Bad for Ya, Carlin noted differences in the types of hats religions ban or require as part of their practices. He mentions that he would never want to be a part of a group that requires or bans the wearing of hats. Carlin also joked in his second book, Brain Droppings, that he worshipped the Sun, one reason being that he could see it.

Themes[link]

Carlin's material falls under one of three self-described categories: "the little world" (observational humor), "the big world" (social commentary), and the peculiarities of the English language (euphemisms, doublespeak, business jargon), all sharing the overall theme of (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:

I look at it this way... For centuries now, man has done everything he can to destroy, defile, and interfere with nature: clear-cutting forests, strip-mining mountains, poisoning the atmosphere, over-fishing the oceans, polluting the rivers and lakes, destroying wetlands and aquifers... so when nature strikes back, and smacks him on the head and kicks him in the nuts, I enjoy that. I have absolutely no sympathy for human beings whatsoever. None. And no matter what kind of problem humans are facing, whether it's natural or man-made, I always hope it gets worse.

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 number of his books that have been 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, conservative Christianity, political alienation, corporate control, hypocrisy, child raising, fast food diet, news stations, self-help publications, blind patriotism, sexual taboos, certain uses of technology and surveillance, and the pro-life position,^[59] among many others.

George Carlin in Trenton, New Jersey April 4, 2008

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 the same interview, he recounted his experience of a California earthquake in the early 1970s, as "[a]n 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."

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."

Along with wordplay and sex jokes, Carlin had always included politics as part of his material, but by the mid 1980s he had become a strident social critic in both his HBO specials and the book compilations of his material, bashing both conservatives and liberals alike. 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.

Death and legacy[link]

Carlin had a history of cardiac problems spanning several decades, including three heart attacks (in 1978 at age 41, 1982 and 1991), an arrhythmia requiring an ablation procedure in 2003, and a significant episode of heart failure in late 2005. He twice underwent angioplasty to reopen narrowed arteries.^[60] In early 2005 he entered a drug rehabilitation facility for treatment of addictions to alcohol and Vicodin.^[61]

On June 22, 2008, Carlin was admitted to Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica after experiencing chest pain, and he died later that day of heart failure. He was 71 years old.^[62] His death occurred one week after his last performance at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. There were further shows on his itinerary.^[21][63][64] In accordance with his wishes, he was cremated, his ashes scattered, and no public or religious services of any kind were held.^[65][66]

In tribute, HBO broadcast eleven of his fourteen HBO specials from June 25–28, including a twelve-hour marathon block on their HBO Comedy channel. NBC scheduled a rerun of the premiere episode of Saturday Night Live, which Carlin hosted.^[67][68][69] 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. Larry King devoted his entire June 23 show to a tribute to Carlin, featuring interviews with Jerry Seinfeld, Bill Maher, Roseanne Barr and Lewis Black, as well as Carlin's daughter Kelly and his brother, Patrick.

On June 24, The New York Times published an op-ed piece on Carlin by Seinfeld.^[70] Cartoonist Garry Trudeau paid tribute in his Doonesbury comic strip on July 27.^[71]

Four days before his death, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts had named Carlin its 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor honoree.^[72] The prize was awarded in Washington, D.C. on November 10, making Carlin the first posthumous recipient.^[73] Comedians honoring him at the ceremony included Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin (a past Twain Humor Prize winner), Lewis Black, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers, and Margaret Cho.

Louis C.K. dedicated his stand-up special Chewed Up to Carlin, and Lewis Black dedicated his entire second season of Root of All Evil to him.

For a number of years, Carlin had been compiling and writing his autobiography, to be released in conjunction with a one-man Broadway show tentatively titled New York City Boy. After his death Tony Hendra, his collaborator on both projects, edited the autobiography for release as Last Words (ISBN 1-4391-7295-1). The book, chronicling most of Carlin's life and future plans (including the one-man show) was published in 2009. The audio edition is narrated by Carlin's brother, Patrick.^[74]

The text of the one-man show is scheduled for publication under the title New York Boy.^[75]

The George Carlin Letters: The Permanent Courtship of Sally Wade,^[76] by Carlin's widow, a collection of previously-unpublished writings and artwork by Carlin interwoven with Wade’s chronicle of the last ten years of their life together, was published in March 2011. (The subtitle is the phrase on a handwritten note Wade found next to her computer upon returning home from the hospital after her husband's death.)^[77]

In 2008 Carlin's daughter Kelly Carlin-McCall announced plans to publish an "oral history", a collection of stories from Carlin's friends and family,^[78] but she later indicated that the project had been shelved in favor of completion of her own memoir.^[79]

Works[link]

Discography[link]

Main

• 1963: Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight
• 1967: Take-Offs and Put-Ons
• 1972: FM & AM
• 1972: Class Clown
• 1973: Occupation: Foole
• 1974: Toledo Window Box
• 1975: An Evening with Wally Londo Featuring Bill Slaszo
• 1977: On the Road
• 1981: A Place for My Stuff
• 1984: Carlin on Campus
• 1986: Playin' with Your Head
• 1988: What Am I Doing in New Jersey?
• 1990: Doin' It Again / Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics
• 1992: Jammin' in New York
• 1996: Back in Town
• 1999: You Are All Diseased
• 2001: Complaints and Grievances
• 2006: Life Is Worth Losing
• 2008: It's Bad for Ya

Compilations

• 1978: Indecent Exposure: Some of the Best of George Carlin
• 1984: The George Carlin Collection
• 1992: Classic Gold
• 1999: The Little David Years (1971-1977)
• 2002: George Carlin on Comedy

Filmography[link]

Television[link]

• The Kraft Summer Music Hall (1966)
• That Girl (Guest appearance) (1966)
• The Ed Sullivan Show (multiple appearances)
• The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (season 3 guest appearance) (1968)
• What's My Line? (Guest Appearance) (1969)
• The Flip Wilson Show (writer, performer) (1971–1973)
• The Mike Douglas Show (Guest) (February 18, 1972)
• Saturday Night Live (Host, episodes 1 and 183) (1975 & 1984)
• Justin Case (as Justin Case) (1988) TV movie directed Blake Edwards
• Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends (as American Narrator: Series 3-4\redubbed Series 1-2) (1991–1995)
• Shining Time Station (as Mr. Conductor) (1991–1993)
• Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales (1996-1997)
• Storytime with Thomas (1998)
• The George Carlin Show (as George O'Grady) (1994-1995) Fox
• Streets of Laredo (as Billy Williams) (1995)
• The Simpsons (as Munchie, episode "D'oh-in in the Wind") (1998)
• Caillou (Caillou's Grandpa) (1998-2008)
• The Daily Show (guest on February 1, 1999; December 16, 1999; and March 10, 2004)
• MADtv (Guest appearance in episodes 518 & 524) (2000)
• Inside the Actors Studio (2004)
• Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales (as Fillmore) (archive footage) (2008)

• In 1998, Carlin had a cameo playing one of the funeral-attending comedians in Jerry Seinfeld's HBO special I'm Telling You For The Last Time. In the funeral intro (the only thing being buried is Jerry Seinfeld's material) Carlin learns that neither friend Robert Klein nor Ed McMahon ever saw Jerry's act. Carlin did, and enjoyed it, but admits "I was full of drugs."

HBO specials[link]

Bibliography[link]

Audiobooks[link]

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

Internet hoaxes[link]

Since the birth of spam email on the internet, many chain-forwards, usually rantlike 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 on the junk email circuit. The website Snopes, 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 to Carlin's viewpoints, with some being especially volatile toward racial groups, gays, women, the homeless, etc. Carlin himself, when he was made aware of each of these bogus emails, would debunk them on his own website, writing: "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 that "it bothers me that some people might believe that I would be capable of writing some of this stuff."^{[88][89][90][91][92][93]}

See also[link]

biography portal

References[link]