Biography for
George Carlin More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

12 May 1937, New York City, New York, USA

Date of Death

22 June 2008, Santa Monica, California, USA (heart failure)

Birth Name

George Denis Patrick Carlin

Nickname

Georgie Porgie
Curious George

Height

5' 9" (1.75 m)

Mini Biography

George Carlin, arguably, is the greatest and -- after Lenny Bruce -- most influential stand-up comedian of all time. An Irish Catholic born and raised in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of New York City, Carlin started out as a conventional comedian and had achieved a fair degree of success as a Bill Cosby style raconteur in nightclubs and on TV until the late 1960s, when he radically overhauled his persona. The new persona, which is more in line with who and what George Carlin is, has been "George Carlin" ever since and is what made him a great stand-up comedian. Carlin's forte is Lenny Bruce-style social and political commentary, spiced with nihilistic observations about people and religion peppered with black humor. He is also noted for his use of language. Carlin's notorious "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine was part of a radio censorship case that made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1978.

IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C. Hopwood

Spouse

Sally Wade	(24 June 1998 - 22 June 2008) (his death)
Brenda Carlin	(3 June 1961 - 11 May 1997) (her death) 1 child

Trade Mark

Stand-up comedy that usually focuses on one of three categories: peculiarities of the English language, "the little world" (observational humor), and "the big world" (social commentary), often with a disparaging edge.

Salty standup comedy monologues with a strong content emphasis on social commentary and language.

Since the 1990s, wears all black clothing for his stand-up performances.

His forever-famous "7 Words You Can't Say on TV".

Raspy voice.

Jokes about religion

Beard

Trivia

Has received two Grammys: for his albums "FM & AM" (1972) and "Jammin' in New York" (1993).

Starred in 14 HBO specials from 1977 until his death in 2008.

He was the first-ever host of "Saturday Night Live" (1975) on 10/11/75, as well as the first-ever host of "Fridays" (1980), an ABC show fashioned after "SNL".

Inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame in November 1994.

Received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in January of 1987. It's located at the corner of Vine and Selma Streets, between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. Milton Berle presided over the ceremony.

Jack Burns and Carlin were a comedy team from 1960-1962. When they parted ways in 1962, Burns joined the Second City comedy group in Chicago, and Carlin pursued a solo stand-up comedy career.

The radio broadcast of an uncensored version of his routine "Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Radio or Television" became the center of a debate over censorship, and FCC legislation over profanity.

Was educated mostly in Catholic schools in New York City.

Some of his comedy influences include Spike Jones, The Marx Brothers, Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis, Lenny Bruce and Bob Newhart.

His wife, Brenda Carlin, died one day before his sixtieth birthday.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 91-93. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Chosen as #2 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time (April 2004).

His list of the Seven Words You Can't Say on TV are referenced in Private Parts (1997).

Appeared in "The Simpsons" (1989) episode "D'oh-in' in the Wind," playing a former hippie. In a previous episode of the show, Krusty the Clown is told he's being sued by Carlin for stealing the "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television."

Daughter, Kelly Carlin-McCall, was born in 1963.

Irish-American.

Attended (but was expelled from) Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, New York--the same alma mater as Regis Philbin and Martin Scorsese.

Has many popular writings on the Internet being falsely attributed to him, such as the anonymous commentaries "I Am a Bad American" and "The Paradox of Our Time," along with several lists of one-liner jokes. Carlin states on his website that he did not write them, and "nothing you see on the Internet is mine unless it came from one of my albums, books, HBO shows, or appeared on my website.

Just before Christmas 2005, he experienced significant shortage of breath and other heart-related symptoms. On Christmas Day he entered Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills. During an eight-day stay he was treated for a lung infection and narrowed arteries. He received antibiotics and an angioplasty that included the placement of a double stent. The procedure was successful, but he was advised to take things slowly in the New Year.

Awarded the 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Father-in-law of Bob McCall.

Younger brother of Patrick Carlin.

He and his older brother Patrick were raised by a single mother in New York City. Their mother, Mary, died in 1984 at age 89.

Joined the U.S. Air Force as a radar technician.

Spent years writing a one-man show that he planned to do on Broadway before his death. The working title was "Watch My Language" or "New York City Boy".

Business partner and best friend of Jerry Hamza.

Second-born son of Patrick Carlin, Sr. and Mary Carlin.

Friend of Richard Belzer.

In 1983, he returned to Cardinal Hayes High School for the school's first Hall of Fame dinner-dance, and it was to honor Msgr. Stanislaus P. Jablonski. Jablonsik was the priest who told him that "maybe he should attend another school." (He did briefly and returned.) Although they were adversaries as Pricinple/Student they had a sense of respect for each other.

His first wife, Brenda Carlin, was always listed as Executive Producer on all his TV specials until her death. She died of cancer.

Worked with Jack Burns on Los Angeles' KNX-AM in the morning as the Wright Brothers.

Worked as a Disc Jockey at KXOL-AM 1360 in Fort Worth, Texas for nine months. He was hired on the spot by Program Director Bob Bruton. There he met newsman Jack Burns. They went on to work together as a comedy duo.

Worked as a Disc Jockey at KJOE-AM Shreveport, Louisiana.

Worked As a radio Disc Jockey in the North East of America.

Close friends with Joe Pesci and said he "prayed to him instead of God".

According to George in his A&E Biography profile, when he was young and would ask his mother what the meaning of a word was, she would invariably answer "Go look it up in the dictionary". He says his fascination with words, their meanings, and word play, is where is comedy routine comes from: The dissection of "words". Even his infamous "Seven Dirty Words" routine is about the meanings of these "bad" words.

Died two days before the 10th anniversary of his marriage to Sally Wade.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 1555 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.

Personal Quotes

Most people are not particulary good at anything.

If acting was hard for me, I wouldn't do it, it is something that I like to do.

If someone loves you and they leave and don't come back, it was never meant to be. If someone loves you and they leave and come back, set them on fire.

When evolution is outlawed, only outlaws will evolve.

Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.

Somehow I enjoy watching people suffer.

Heart disease has changed my eating habits, but I still cook bacon for the smell.

I'm completely in favor of the separation of church and state. My idea is that these two institutions screw us up enough on their own, so both of them together is certain death.

I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.

[March 1997] We use up words like "spiritual" so fast in this culture. Twenty years ago "spiritual" had a distinct meaning. But now there's a lot of jack-off thinkers who just love to talk about the spiritual. And there is a lot of bogus -- is "bogosity" a word? It should be -- a lot of bogosity in these spiritual seekers. So you have to find another way to express it. I just call it "how I fit.

I think it's the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.

I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.

I'm not afraid of heights, I'm just afraid of falling from them.

To be intoxicated is to feel sophisticated, but not be able to say it.

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.

Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

Some national parks have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree, something is wrong.

Don't confuse my point of view with cynicism. The real cynics are the ones who tell you that everything's gonna be all right.

Dusting is a good example of the futility of trying to put things right. As soon as you dust, the fact of your next dusting has already been established.

Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.

The very existence of flamethrowers proves that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves, "You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done".

Standing ovations have become far too commonplace. What we need are ovations where the audience members all punch and kick one another.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.

[in his will, regarding his funeral] I wish no public service of any kind. I wish no religious service of any kind. I prefer a private gathering at my home, attended by friends and family members... It should be extremely informal, they should play rhythm and blues music, and they should laugh a lot.

I enjoy criticizing on the basis of "It's you folks." Because I never felt a part of this, I never identified with a local group. I never belonged to any club, organization, or state. I love New York City, but that's a chauvinist thing. I suppose it's a belonging thing. I'm not proud of this country, I don't care what happens to it, I honestly don't give a shit if it all goes up in flames. Having that freedom just made the writing so much more fun.

I collected autographs as a kid - not in any sort of hardcore way, but just by hanging around the stage doors. And I loved Danny Kaye. He was in the stage show at Radio City, and I went and I stood at that door for over an hour. It was a rainy, cold day - I wasn't in the direct rain, but it was very cold and it was getting dark. And I stood there and waited for Danny Kaye, and he came and I was the only kid there. And he walked right past me. He wouldn't even say anything. And I did my little rap, "Oh please, please, please . . ." And then later I see him with these UNICEF kids, with 30 of them sitting on his lap, and I knew he was full of shit.

(On being fired from his Las Vegas lounge act in the the early 60s): I was fired for saying 'shit' in a town where the most popular game is called 'craps'.

That's my job: thinking up goofy shit.

Did you ever do this? Look at your dog and think of the saddest thing you can think of. It'll look like it's happening to your dog. All the sadness of the world is in the eyes of a dog.

Doing new stuff is a point of pride with me. People may not consider it so, but stand-up comedy is one of the performing arts, and artists are supposed to grow and evolve over time. Through the years, my technique has sharpened, my writing has improved and even my observations have grown richer. I can't do old material; I would feel like a failure. Essentially, this job is that of a writer, but a writer who doesn't produce new work all the time is not a writer - he's a typist.

Where Are They Now

(July 2009) Release of his autobiography, "Last Words" by George with Tony Hendra, will be set for November 2009.

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