George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 -- June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, writer, social critic, and actor who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums. 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 5--4 decision by the justices affirmed the government's power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves. One newspaper called Carlin "the dean of counterculture comedians." The first of his 14 stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977. From the late 1980s, Carlin's routines focused on sociocultural criticism of modern American society. He often commented on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture. In 2004, Carlin was placed second on the Comedy Central list of the 100 greatest stand-up comedians, ahead of Lenny Bruce and behind Richard Pryor. 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. His final HBO special, It's Bad for Ya, was filmed less than four months before his death. In 2008, he was posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Carlin's influences included Danny Kaye, Jonathan Winters, Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, Jerry Lewis, the Marx Brothers, Mort Sahl, Spike Jones, Ernie Kovacs, the Ritz Brothers and the Monty Python's Flying Circus troupe. Comedians who have claimed Carlin as an influence include Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Louis C.K., Lewis Black, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, Patrice O'Neal, Adam Carolla, Colin Quinn, Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg, Russell Peters, Jay Leno, Ben Stiller, Kevin Smith, and Chris Rush. Carlin had a history of cardiac problems spanning several decades. These included 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. In early 2005 he entered a drug rehabilitation facility for treatment of addictions to alcohol and Vicodin. He died on June 22, 2008 at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California of heart failure. He was 71 years old. His death occurred one week after his last performance at The Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In accordance with his wishes he was cremated, his ashes scattered, and no public memorial services were held. In tribute, HBO broadcast 11 of his 14 HBO specials from June 25--28, including a 12-hour marathon block on their HBO Comedy channel. NBC scheduled a rerun of the premiere episode of Saturday Night Live, which Carlin hosted. 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 printed an op-ed piece on Carlin by Jerry Seinfeld. Cartoonist Garry Trudeau paid tribute in his Doonesbury comic strip on July 27. Four days before his death the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts named Carlin its 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor honoree. He became its first posthumous recipient on November 10 in Washington, D.C.. 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. 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. The George Carlin Letters: The Permanent Courtship of Sally Wade, 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 a phrase on a handwritten note that Wade found next to her computer upon returning home from the hospital after her husband's death. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_carlin

• published: 28 Mar 2014
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