George Carlin

**George Denis Patrick Carlin** (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American actor, comedian and writer. He was known for his dark comedy and jokes about politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo.

## Early life

Carlin was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City. Carlin said that he started to appreciate effective use of the English language because of his mother, though they had a difficult relationship and he often ran away from home. He grew up on West 121st Street in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, which he and his friends called "White Harlem" because it "sounded a lot tougher than its real name".

His mother had a television, which was a rare and new technology at the time, and Carlin became a fan of the late-night talk show _Broadway Open House_ during its short run.

Carlin joined the U.S. Air Force and trained as a radar technician. During his time in the Air Force, he had been court-martialed three times and received many nonjudicial punishments and reprimands.

## Career

The first of Carlin's 14 stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977. From the late 1980s, his performances were focused on sociocultural criticism of American society.

Carlin acted in movies including _Jersey Girl_, _Dogma_, _Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure_ (and its sequel), _Scary Movie 3_, and Disney's _Tarzan 2_. He also narrated the children's television series _Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends_ from 1984 to 1995 (Actor Alec Baldwin later took over the role in 1998), and Portrayed Mr. Conductor on _Shining Time Station_.

He was known for his "seven dirty words" routine. The routine was about seven words people should not say in the media. (The list was ironically used by many radio stations, as a guide to what kind of language was not allowed.) Comedy Central called Carlin one of the greatest stand-up comedians.

## Personal life

Carlin married Brenda Hosbrook on June 3, 1961, together they have a daughter named Kelly. They remained married until her death in 1997, just a few day's before Carlin's 60th birthday. Carlin then married Sally Wade on June 24, 1998, the marriage lasted until Carlin's death in 2008.

## Death

Carlin had a history of heart problems. He had several heart attacks. He died of heart failure in Santa Monica, California at age 71.

### Discography

- Main
- 1963: _Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight_
- 1967: _Take-Offs and Put-Ons_
- 1972: _FM & AM_
- 1972: _Class Clown_
- 1973: _Occupation: Foole_
- 1974: _Toledo Window Box_
- 1975: _An Evening with Wally Londo Featuring Bill Slaszo_
- 1977: _On the Road_
- 1981: _A Place for My Stuff_
- 1982: _Carlin at Carnegie_
- 1984: _Carlin on Campus_
- 1986: _Playin' with Your Head_
- 1988: _What Am I Doing in New Jersey?_
- 1990: _Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics_
- 1992: _Jammin' in New York_
- 1996: _Back in Town_
- 1999: _You Are All Diseased_
- 2001: _Complaints and Grievances_
- 2002: _George Carlin on Comedy_
- 2006: _Life Is Worth Losing_
- 2008: _It's Bad for Ya_

- Compilations
- 1978: _Indecent Exposure: Some of the Best of George Carlin_
- 1984: _The George Carlin Collection_
- 1992: _Classic Gold_
- 1999: _The Little David Years_

### Filmography

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1968|_With Six You Get Eggroll_|Herbie Fleck||
|1976|_Car Wash_|Taxi driver||
|1979|_Americathon_|Narrator||
|1987|_Outrageous Fortune_|Frank Madras||
|1989|_Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure_|Rufus||
|1990|_Working Tra$h_|Ralph Sawatzky||
|1991|_Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey_|Rufus||
|_The Prince of Tides_|Eddie Detreville|||
|1995|_Streets of Laredo_|Billy Williams||
|1998|_Godzilla_|Uncredited Party Guest||
|1999|_Dogma_|Cardinal Ignatius Glick||
|2001|_Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back_|Hitchhiker||
|2003|_Scary Movie 3_|Architect||
|2004|_Jersey Girl_|Bart Trinké||
|2005|_Tarzan II_|Zugor|Voice only|
|_The Aristocrats_|Himself|||
|2006|_Cars_|Fillmore|Voice only|
||_Mater and the Ghostlight_|||
|2007|_Happily N'Ever After_|Wizard||

### Television

- _The Kraft Summer Music Hall_ (1966)
- _That Girl_ (Guest appearance) (1966)
- _The Ed Sullivan Show_ (multiple appearances)
- _The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour_ (season 3 guest appearance) (1968)
- _What's My Line? _ (Guest Appearance) (1969)
- _The Game Game_ (Guest Appearance) (1969)
- _The Flip Wilson Show_ (writer, performer) (1971–1973)
- _The Mike Douglas Show_ (Guest) (February 18, 1972)
- _Welcome Back, Kotter_ (Guest Appearance) (1978)
- _Saturday Night Live_ (Host, episodes 1 and 183) (1975 & 1984)
- _Nick at Nite_ (station IDs) (1987)
- _Justin Case_ (as Justin Case) (1988) TV movie directed Blake Edwards
- _Thomas and Friends_ (as US Narrator: Series 1–4) (1984–1996)
- _Shining Time Station_ (as Mr. Conductor/Narrator for _Thomas the Tank Engine_ segments) (1991–1993; Family Specials for 1995)
- _Mr. Conductor's Thomas Tales_ (as Mr. Conductor/Narrator for _Thomas the Tank Engine_ segments) (1996)
- _Storytime with Thomas_ (as Mr. Conductor/Narrator for _Thomas the Tank Engine_ segments) (1999)
- _The George Carlin Show_ (as George O'Grady) (1994–1995) Fox
- _Streets of Laredo_ (as Billy Williams) (1995)
- _The Simpsons_ (as Munchie, episode "D'oh-in in the Wind") (1998)
- _I'm Telling You for the Last Time_
- _The Daily Show_ (guest on February 1, 1999; December 16, 1999; and March 10, 2004)
- _MADtv_ (Guest appearance in episodes 518 & 524) (2000)
- _Inside the Actors Studio_ (2004)
- _Cars Toons: Mater's Tall Tales_ (as Fillmore) (archive footage) (2008)

### Video games

- _Cars_ (2006) (as Fillmore)

### HBO specials

|Special|Year|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- |
|_On Location: George Carlin at USC_|1977||
|_George Carlin: Again!_|1978||
|_Carlin at Carnegie_|1982||
|_Carlin on Campus_|1984||
|_Playin' with Your Head_|1986||
|_What Am I Doing in New Jersey?_|1988||
|_Doin' It Again_|1990||
|_Jammin' in New York_|1992||
|_Back in Town_|1996||
|_George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy_|1997||
|_You Are All Diseased_|1999||
|_Complaints and Grievances_|2001||
|_Life Is Worth Losing_|2005||
|_All My Stuff_|2007|A boxset of Carlin's first 12 stand-up specials (excluding _George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy_).|
|_It's Bad for Ya_|2008||

### Bibliography

|Book|Year|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- |
|_Sometimes a Little Brain Damage Can Help_|1984||
|_Brain Droppings_|1997||
|_Napalm and Silly Putty_|2001||
|_When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?_|2004||
|_Three Times Carlin: An Orgy of George_|2006|A collection of the 3 previous titles.|
|_Watch My Language_|2009|Posthumous release (not yet released).|
|_Last Words_|Posthumous release.||

### Books

- _Sometimes a Little Brain Damage Can Help_. 1984.
- _Brain Droppings_. 1997.
- _Napalm and Silly Putty_. 2001.
- _When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?_. 2004.
- _Three Times Carlin: An Orgy of George_. 2006. . A collection of the 3 previous titles.
- _Watch My Language_. 2009.

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: George Carlin
- **image**: George Carlin 1975 (Little David Records) Publicity.jpg
- **caption**: Carlin in 1975
- **birth place**: New York City, New York City, New York, U.S.
- **birth name**: George Denis Patrick Carlin
- **death place**: Santa Monica, California, U.S.
- **death cause**: Heart failure
- **spouse**: Brenda Hosbrook
(m. 1961–1997; her death)
Sally Wade
(m. 1998–2008; his death)
- **children**: 1
- **occupation**: Actor, writer, comedian.
- **known for**: Narrator of _Thomas and Friends_
Mr. Conductor on _Shining Time Station_
- **years active**: 1956–2008