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ctt1wbw · Jun 23, 2008, 12:58 AM

It's on MSNBC - Breaking News, Weather, Business, Health, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Travel, Science, Technology, Local, US & World News - msnbc.com Front Page and Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com right now. What a damned funny guy.

pooka · Jun 23, 2008, 01:12 AM

Awwwww, BULLSHIT! Too soon!

Randman · Jun 23, 2008, 01:19 AM

I've seen him live several times. Last time was in Vegas in September upon my return to the US. I have his audiobooks on the iPod/iPhone and still can listen and re-listen to them.

A true bummer. He might have lose some steam recently but he truly was one of the legends of comedy.

TheWOAT · Jun 23, 2008, 01:21 AM

Rip

Rumor · Jun 23, 2008, 01:22 AM

I've always enjoyed his stand up. It's a sad day for comedy.

IceEnclosure · Jun 23, 2008, 01:53 AM

damn man

flabasha · Jun 23, 2008, 02:56 AM

Oh man... that hospital's right down the street from me, too. Weird to think that I drove right by it this afternoon, and someone I really admired was in there reaching the end of his life.

RIP, supposed to be a great guy, definitely a great comedian, and the best ranter there was...

- - e r i k - - · 03:08 AM

Funny till the end. Shame to see him go.

R.I.P.

I'm keeping him in my thoughts

…between "My ass hurts in this chair" and "let's fᴜck the waitress"

Atomic Rooster · Jun 23, 2008, 05:21 AM

This is definitely one person whose input I will really miss till I take my forever dirtnap.

OldManMac · Jun 23, 2008, 06:14 AM

design219 · Jun 23, 2008, 07:47 AM

Aw...

****
Piss
****
****
**********
Mother****er
Tits

He'll be missed.
But not by the FCC.

64stang06 · Jun 23, 2008, 09:37 AM

Damn. And damn the FCC.

Mrjinglesusa · Jun 23, 2008, 09:42 AM

RIP George.

He was one of the funniest comedians I've ever had the pleasure of watching, mainly because he was SMART. He made you laugh, but at the same time, he made you THINK. A rare talent and one who will be missed.

Hope you finally found a place for all your "stuff" George.

ironknee · Jun 23, 2008, 10:09 AM

He will be missed

mdc · Jun 23, 2008, 10:16 AM

I read this this morning and was really saddened. George was really funny and will be missed.

olePigeon · Jun 23, 2008, 11:00 AM

Forecast for the remainder of this week will be... dark.

voodoo · Jun 23, 2008, 11:09 AM

Quitter

Chongo · Jun 23, 2008, 11:22 AM

George filmed one of his many HBO specials here in Phoenix at the Celebrity Theater.

Lava Lamp Freak · Jun 23, 2008, 12:01 PM

I'm keeping him in my iPod for six more weeks.

lpkmckenna · Jun 23, 2008, 12:03 PM

Sad.

osiris · Jun 23, 2008, 12:19 PM

What a sad loss.

sek929 · Jun 23, 2008, 12:27 PM

Damn, one of my favorite comedians, that's for sure. His stuff had dropped off a little in the past few years, you could really taste his anger and bitterness...but that's always what made him real.

Like stated above, he could make you both laugh and think about the absurdities of life with one breath. I'm going to dust off a few CDs I have by him and give a memorial listen tonight. I saw him front row about 5 years back in Providence. Great show, I'll definitely miss him.

iM@k · Jun 23, 2008, 01:33 PM

Damm! One of my goals in life was to see him perform live.

The HBO show he did after 9/11 was one of my favorites.

In your honor George, I will let one rip that will take the paint off the walls while watching a hooker eat a banana flavored snow cone.

dlefebvre · 08:37 PM

There goes my all time favorite comedian...

I'm sad, but it's life. Saturday I was painting my apartment while listening to music. After a few songs, I felt like listening to some George Carlin, since it had been a long time. So while I was painting, I listened to Playin' With Your Head, You Are All Diseased, Complaints and Grievances and A Place for My Stuff. I truly enjoyed him. It's one of the few comedian I can listen over and over and I will continue to do so.

Thanks for all the laughter George! And if God really exists, I guess you'll have some explaining to do...

hyteckit · Jun 23, 2008, 04:31 PM

I enjoy watching his shows.

He'll be missed.

coreythemagnificent46 · Jun 23, 2008, 05:27 PM

He will be missed.. I got the pleasure of shaking his had at one of his shows.. Great Man.. and a great loss to us all

@pplejaxkz · Jun 23, 2008, 06:08 PM

That really sucks =[

Rumor · Jun 23, 2008, 08:10 PM

George Carlin, the Grammy-Award winning standup comedian and actor who was hailed for his irreverent social commentary, poignant observations of the absurdities of everyday life and language, and groundbreaking routines like "Seven Words You Can Never Use on Television," died in Los Angeles on Sunday, according to his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He was 71.

The cause of death was heart failure, according to Abraham.

He finished a show at the Orleans in Las Vegas last week and was planning to take the month off to relax and work on a new book of essays and musings, Abraham said.

Mr. Carlin went to the hospital Sunday afternoon because "his heart just didn't feel right," the publicist said.

Mr. Carlin began his standup comedy act in the late 1950s and made his first television solo guest appearance on "The Merv Griffin Show" in 1965. At that time, he was primarily known for his clever wordplay and reminiscences of his Irish working-class upbringing in New York.

But from the outset, there were indications of an anti-establishment edge to his comedy. Initially, it surfaced in the witty patter of a host of offbeat characters like the wacky sportscaster Biff Barf and the hippy-dippy weatherman Al Sleet. "The weather was dominated by a large Canadian low, which is not to be confused with a Mexican high. Tonight's forecast ... dark, continued mostly dark tonight turning to widely scattered light in the morning."

Mr. Carlin released his first comedy album, "Take-Offs and Put-Ons," to rave reviews in 1967. He also dabbled in acting, winning a recurring part as Marlo Thomas' theatrical agent in the sitcom "That Girl" (1966-67) and a supporting role in the movie "With Six You Get Egg-Roll," released in 1968.

By the end of the decade, he was one of America's best-known comedians. He made more than 80 major TV appearances during that time, including the "Ed Sullivan Show" and Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show"; he was also regularly featured at major nightclubs in New York and Las Vegas.

'Living a lie'

That early success and celebrity, however, was as dinky and hollow as a gratuitous pratfall to Mr. Carlin. "I was entertaining the fathers and the mothers of the people I sympathized with, and in some cases associated with, and whose point of view I shared," he recalled later, as quoted in the book "Going Too Far" by Tony Hendra, which was published in 1987. "I was a traitor, in so many words. I was living a lie."

In 1970, Mr. Carlin discarded his suit, tie and clean-cut image as well as the relatively conventional material that had catapulted him to the top. Mr. Carlin reinvented himself, emerging with a beard, long hair, jeans and a routine that, according to one critic, was steeped in "drugs and bawdy language." There was an immediate backlash. The Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas terminated his three-year contract, and, months later, he was advised to leave town when an angry mob threatened him at the Lake Geneva Playboy Club. Afterward, he temporarily abandoned the nightclub circuit and began appearing at coffeehouses, folk clubs and colleges, where he found a younger, hipper audience that was more attuned to both his new image and his material.

By 1972, when he released his second album, "FM & AM," his star was again on the rise. The album, which won a Grammy Award as best comedy recording, combined older material on the "AM" side with bolder, more acerbic routines on the "FM" side. Among the more controversial cuts was a routine euphemistically entitled "Shoot," in which Mr. Carlin explored the etymology and common usage of the popular idiom for excrement. The bit was part of the comic's longer routine "Seven Words That Can Never Be Said on Television," which appeared on his third album "Class Clown," also released in 1972.

Arrested 7 times

The material seems innocuous by today's standards, but it caused an uproar when broadcast on the New York radio station WBAI in the early '70s. The station was censured and fined by the Federal Communications Commission. And in 1978, its ruling was supported by the Supreme Court, which Time magazine reported, "upheld an FCC ban on 'offensive material' during hours when children are in the audience." Mr. Carlin refused to drop the bit and was arrested several times after reciting it on stage.

Mr. Carlin released a half-dozen comedy albums during the '70s.He was chosen to host the first episode of the late-night comedy show "Saturday Night Live" in 1975. And two years later, he found the perfect platform for his brand of acerbic, cerebral, sometimes off-color standup humor in the fledgling, less restricted world of cable television.

By 1977, when his first HBO comedy special, "George Mr. Carlin at USC," was aired, he was recognized as one of the era's most influential comedians.

Mr. 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. 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.

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

In the '80s, he weathered serious tax problems, a heart attack and two open-heart surgeries. His greatest setback was the loss of his wife, Brenda Hosbrook, who died in 1997. They had been married for 36 years.

Mr. Carlin is survived by wife, Sally Wade; daughter Kelly Carlin McCall; son-in-law, Bob McCall; older brother, Patrick Carlin; sister-in-law, Marlene Carlin; and longtime manager, business partner and best friend Jerold Hamza.

Chronicle news services contributed to this report.

Source: GEORGE CARLIN: 1937-2008 / Comedian famed for pithy social critiques

- - e r i k - - · Jun 23, 2008, 08:40 PM

…and yet Carlos Mencia and Dane Cook lives on

0157988944 · Jun 23, 2008, 09:58 PM

thats a *********** mother****ing shame.

ctt1wbw · Jun 23, 2008, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by iM@k

Damm! One of my goals in life was to see him perform live.

The HBO show he did after 9/11 was one of my favorites.

In your honor George, I will let one rip that will take the paint off the walls while watching a hooker eat a banana flavored snow cone.

Is that online somewheres? I'd like to see it.

Spliff · Jun 25, 2008, 12:13 AM

How do you die of heart failure while your in a hospital and as skinny as George Carlin?

WirelessPro · Jun 25, 2008, 09:51 AM

Very tragic event for comedy. He was my favorite comedian. I'm happy I got to see him live before he passed away.

Originally Posted by Spliff

How do you die of heart failure while your in a hospital and as skinny as George Carlin?

Drugs. He used to do A LOT of them.

Chongo · Jun 25, 2008, 10:47 AM

Originally Posted by Spliff

How do you die of heart failure while your in a hospital and as skinny as George Carlin?

Originally Posted by WirelessPro

Very tragic event for comedy. He was my favorite comedian. I'm happy I got to see him live before he passed away.

Drugs. He used to do A LOT of them.

Exactly, drugs, especially coke and amphetamines don't help.
My cardiologist told me that thin people die from a heart attack at a higher rate than fat people. They think all is well because their weight is fine but their cholesterol levels can be crap.

Randman · Jun 25, 2008, 03:32 PM

Seems HBO is going to air most of his shows now.