George Carlin passes at 71[:(]

[dbacks fan]

Jun. 22, 2008 10:53 PM
Associated Press
SANTA MONICA, Calif. - A publicist for George Carlin says the legendary comedian has died of heart failure at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif.

Jeff Abraham says Carlin went into St. John's Health Center on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain. Carlin died at 5:55 p.m. PDT. He was 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. It was announced Tuesday that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

The dean of counterculture comedians, Carlin constantly pushed the envelope with his jokes, particularly with a routine called "The Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV."



God rest you and love you George, you will be greatly missed.

Like him or hate him he took the torch from Lenny Bruce, and inspired a whole generation of comedians who speak their mind. He refused to be PC and spoke what he thought and what he felt.

[dbacks fan]

By KEITH ST. CLAIR

Associated Press Writer

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — George Carlin, the dean of counterculture comedians whose biting insights on life and language were immortalized in his "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV" routine, died of heart failure Sunday. He was 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.


A publicist for George Carlin says the legendary comedian has died of heart failure at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., Sunday June 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull/file)
Carlin constantly pushed the envelope with his jokes, particularly with the "Seven Words" routine. When he uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace.

When the words were played on a New York radio station, they resulted in a Supreme Court ruling in 1978 upholding the government's authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language.

"So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," he told The Associated Press earlier this year.

He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies. Carlin hosted the first broadcast of "Saturday Night Live" and noted on his Web site that he was "loaded on cocaine all week long."

He won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards. On Tuesday, it was announced that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

When asked about the fallout from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson's breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction," Carlin told the AP, "What are we, surprised?"

"There's an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body," he said. "It's reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have."

Carlin was born May 12, 1937 and grew up in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, raised by a single mother. After dropping out of high school in the ninth grade, he joined the Air Force in 1954. He received three court-martials and numerous disciplinary punishments, according to his official Web site.

While in the Air Force he started working as an off-base disc jockey at a radio station in Shreveport, La., and after receiving a general discharge in 1957, took an announcing job at WEZE in Boston.

"Fired after three months for driving mobile news van to New York to buy pot," his Web site says.

From there he went on to a job on the night shift as a deejay at a radio station in Forth Worth, Texas. Carlin also worked variety of temporary jobs including a carnival organist and a marketing director for a peanut brittle.

In 1960, he left with a Texas radio buddy, Jack Burns, for Hollywood to pursue a nightclub career as comedy team Burns & Carlin. He left with $300, but his first break came just months later when the duo appeared on the Tonight Show with Jack Paar. r Carlin said he hoped to would emulate his childhood hero, Danny Kaye, the kindly, rubber-faced comedian who ruled over the decade that Carlin grew up in — the 1950s — with a clever but gentle humor reflective of its times.

Only problem was, it didn't work for him.

"I was doing superficial comedy entertaining people who didn't really care: Businessmen, people in nightclubs, conservative people. And I had been doing that for the better part of 10 years when it finally dawned on me that I was in the wrong place doing the wrong things for the wrong people," Carlin reflected recently as he prepared for his 14th HBO special, "It's Bad For Ya."

Carlin's first wife, Brenda, died in 1997. He is survived by wife Sally Wade; daughter Kelly Carlin McCall; son-in-law Bob McCall; brother Patrick Carlin; and sister-in-law Marlene Carlin.

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Weber contributed to this report.


___

June 22, 2008 - 11:40 p.m. MST

Copyright 2008, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

[StanOU]

I like his book When Will Jesus Bring The Pork Chops?  I liked the way he pared the Ten Commandments down to two.  

Farewell George.  You were the genuine item. []

[cannon_fodder]

The man was funny.  Probably my most quoted comic, so many situations with a Carlin line.

[tim huntzinger]

OHHHHH, he DIED. I thought maybe he passed that great big piece of turd he had been calling comedy for all these years out his butt.  This is the best thing he has done for like what, forty years.  He was as relevant as white patent leather shoes and hip huggers on men.  Yaaaaawwwwwnnnn. I hope he gets what's coming to him, though: A great big endless pork chop and Mad Dog with an angel from Santa Monica for eternity.  That would be great.  He probably died on the crapper like Elvis, 'Unnnnhhhh . . . unhhhh . . . what the, that looks like the Virgin Mary . . . OH NO, my career! Blaaarrrgh!!' and then just hit the tile.

[okcpulse]

quote: OHHHHH, he DIED. I thought maybe he passed that great big piece of turd he had been calling comedy for all these years out his butt. This is the best thing he has done for like what, forty years. He was as relevant as white patent leather shoes and hip huggers on men. Yaaaaawwwwwnnnn. I hope he gets what's coming to him, though: A great big endless pork chop and Mad Dog with an angel from Santa Monica for eternity. That would be great. He probably died on the crapper like Elvis, 'Unnnnhhhh . . . unhhhh . . . what the, that looks like the Virgin Mary . . . OH NO, my career! Blaaarrrgh!!' and then just hit the tile.

Have some decency, buddy.  If there is one thing I learned from Carlin, it's that America has turned into a society full of mindless sheep.  Much of what he said made a LOT of sense.  I never agreed with him when it came to his stance on religion, but when it came to American society, he hit right on, and that includes the following...

-America's pointless fear of germs (my favorite)

-Too much security at the airport (We need security but not the TSA pillaging the public)

-Americans have a lot of trouble dealing with reality (So very true)

-Overuse of jargon in the English language (Heck, too many people misuse the English language, and now we are speaking in acronyms, it disgusts me)

Don't wish death upon people, Tim.  You wouldn't want someone saying that about someone you care about.  And until America finally wakes up and realize we're headed straight for collapse, we will continue to be a global laughing stock.

[tim huntzinger]

Ease up, people.  Just giving him props, you eeeeedeeeooot.  In fact, I think Carlin is still with us.  Right after my colon cleanser I saw his face for a moment before I flushed!  Carlin taught us that there are no sacred cows, nothing off-limits.  Except the sensibilities of narrow-minded poop-heads that git their panties all in a wad.  Say, is that him beyond the grave I hear? Nahhhhh, I just ripped a big smelly one!

[safetyguy]

Carlin was scheduled to be honored at the Kennedy Center in DC in the near future with the Mark Twain Life Time achievement award.
I would think that would be a pretty big deal for someone like Carlin to win the award

[tim huntzinger]

THE Mark Twain? THE one alllll comedians crave? NO WAY!  Ohhhh I bet he was pissed as he cratered, thinking, 'Crap, now I miss out on the Kennedy Center.  BLAAAAAARGH!'  Nothing says 'You are washed up, ready for the big balloon ride to Valhalla like a Lifetime Achievement Award.  Blame the Awards Committee.

[FOTD]

Loved him more than words could tell.....

See ya in hell hippie dippie weather man....

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine.....

[safetyguy]

quote:Originally posted by tim huntzinger

THE Mark Twain? THE one alllll comedians crave? NO WAY!  Ohhhh I bet he was pissed as he cratered, thinking, 'Crap, now I miss out on the Kennedy Center.  BLAAAAAARGH!'  Nothing says 'You are washed up, ready for the big balloon ride to Valhalla like a Lifetime Achievement Award.  Blame the Awards Committee.

Here's the proof...Mark Twain

[cannon_fodder]

Heh, Carlin would make fun of this thread.

"I hate euphemisms. Passed away. What the hell does that mean?  Oh, he's dead.  Thanks."

[dbacks fan]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

Heh, Carlin would make fun of this thread.

"I hate euphemisms. Passed away. What the hell does that mean?  Oh, he's dead.  Thanks."

You're right. He got his "Two Minute warning, get you s#!t together!"

[rwarn17588]

One of my faves was when he was talking about seriously ill people wanting to end their life-support systems.

"Pull the plug? F--k that! I want an extension cord for my plug!"

Also, his comparison of football and baseball is classic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YphEUa5LPjM

[Conan71]

George Carlin was fearless and a true classic original.


RIP