Tribute to George Carlin

This morning as I awoke to hear the bad news I pondered on this tribute to Comedian, actor and writer George Carlin.

He died early this morning of Sunday 6-22-08 from heart failure, at age 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain, and died at 5:55 p.m.

He recnetly performed the previous weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

Carlin was born May 12, 1937, in the Bronx, New York.

Him and his kid brother, Pat, were mainly raised by their mother, Mary Carlin, in Manhattan's Morningside Heights section. Devout Irish Catholic, she worked as a secretary struggling to support her children after the death of her late husband in 1945.

Carlin attended parochial school and much of his cynical religious sentiments have stemmed from his experience as a Roman Catholic altar boy. He had completed two years of high school before dropping out in the ninth grade.

In 1954, at age 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a computer mechanic and was stationed at Shreveport, Louisiana. During the next three years, he earned his high school equivalency and worked as a disc jockey with a local radio station. After a general discharge in 1957, he took various radio jobs in Boston and Fort Worth, Texas.

In 1959, Carlin teamed up with Texas newscaster, Jack Burns. The two collaborated on a morning radio show in Fort Worth before relocating to Hollywood, where they attracted the attention of the legendary Lenny Bruce. Bruce helped Burns and Carlin secure appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar. The two stars eventually split up, and over the next few years Carlin continued to make numerous appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson as well as, The Merv Griffin Show.

In the early 60s, Carlin got his breaking start as a stand-up comic by performing on the Las Vegas circuit and entertaining TV audiences. He enjoyed moderate success until the mid-70s when he re-invented his image and adopted a less conventional, and vulgar comedy routine. Carlin's scripted monologues began to represent his disillusioned attitude toward the world in which explored the highly sensitive issues of Vietnam, the right to free speech, and religion.

In July of 1972, George heighted his fame by being arrested for violating obscenity laws in Milwaukee after his famous routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television!"

When a radio station played a recording of Carlin's "Seven Words" routine, it started a legal case over the obscenity regulations. In 78, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the government's right to penalize stations that broadcast such material on public airwaves during hours when young people may typically tune in and furthermore added to his popularity.

As a self-professed atheist and avid cocaine user, he was critisized as anti-religious and disrespectful of society. However, his new material brought him success from the younger genre. He illustrated his anti-establishment views and gained popularity by being the first host of the risque TV show Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975.

In 1990, Carlin compiled a CD set that highlighted his work from the 70s. To date, he has starred in 11 HBO specials and his latest routine, "It's all Bullshit, and it's bad for you" details his outlook on religion and American life.

Carlin published a best-selling book titled Brain Droppings in 1997. Two years later, syndicated columnist Mike Barnicle was suspended from the Boston Globe, after he had plagiarized passages from Carlin's book. To Carlin's benefit, the widely publicized controversy credited him with even more popularity and an increase in book sales.

Throughout his career, Carlin has taken on a number of comedy roles in films such as 1987's Outrageous Fortune and 1990's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. He took a more dramatic turn in The Prince of Tides (1991). Most recently, he was featured in Kevin Smith's film Dogma (1999), in which he played Cardinal Glick, the fame-seeking religious figure.

In addition to his acting, writing and recording, Carlin continued to perform about 150 dates a year on the road. His first wife Brenda, died in May 1997 of complications from liver cancer. He is survived by his daughter Kelly, and longtime partner, Sally Wade.

You will be missed brother.