George Carlin

He had an older brother named Patrick Jr. (1931–2022), who had a major influence on his comedy and was sometimes directly involved.

Carlin described himself as "fully Irish" as his mother was born in New York to Irish immigrants and his father was an Irish immigrant from Cloghan, County Donegal.

In his posthumously published autobiography Last Words, he wrote about a fantasy of Ireland he would often have when his first wife Brenda was alive: "The southeastern parts so that it would be a little warmer, and the two of us there, close enough to Dublin that you could go buy things you needed."

Carlin's maternal grandfather was an NYPD police officer who wrote out the works of William Shakespeare by hand for fun.

Carlin's parents separated when he was two months old due to the alcoholism of his father, whom Carlin said was "never around".

His mother raised him and his brother on her own.

When Carlin was eight years old, his father died.

Carlin said that he picked up an appreciation for the effective use of the English language from his mother, though they had a difficult relationship and he often ran away from home.

George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic.

Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of counterculture comedians".

He was known for his black comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects.

George Denis Patrick Carlin was born at Weill Cornell Medical Center (then called New York Hospital) in the Manhattan borough of New York City on May 12, 1937, the son of Mary (née Bearey; 1896–1984) and Patrick John Carlin (1888–1945).

Labeled an "unproductive airman" by his superiors, he received a general discharge on July 29, 1957.

During his time in the Air Force, he had been court-martialed three times and received many nonjudicial punishments and reprimands.

In 1959, Carlin met Jack Burns, a fellow DJ at radio station KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas.

They formed a comedy team and after successful performances at Fort Worth's beat coffeehouse called The Cellar, Burns and Carlin headed for California in February 1960.

Within weeks of arriving in California, Burns and Carlin put together an audition tape and created The Wright Brothers, a morning show on KDAY in Hollywood.

During their tenure at KDAY, they honed their material in beatnik coffeehouses at night.

Carlin released his first solo album Take-Offs and Put-Ons in 1966.

He went on to receive five Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album winning for FM & AM (1972), Jammin' in New York (1992), Brain Droppings (2001), Napalm & Silly Putty (2002), and It's Bad for Ya (2008).

The latter was his final comedy special, which was filmed less than four months before his death from cardiac failure.

Carlin was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the three-decade Johnny Carson era and hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975.

He is also known for his film performances in Car Wash (1976), Outrageous Fortune (1987), Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991), The Prince of Tides (1991), Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001), Scary Movie 3 (2003), and Jersey Girl (2004).

The first of Carlin's 14 stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977, broadcast as George Carlin at USC.

His "seven dirty words" routine was central to the 1978 United States Supreme Court case F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a 5–4 decision affirmed the government's power to censor indecent material on public airwaves.

From the late 1980s onwards, his routines focused on sociocultural criticism of American society.

He often commented on American political issues and satirized American culture.

Carlin co-created and starred in the Fox sitcom The George Carlin Show (1994–1995).

He placed second on Comedy Central's list of top 10 American comedians in 2004, while Rolling Stone magazine ranked him second on its list of the 50 best stand-up comedians of all time in 2017, in both cases behind Richard Pryor.

He also had voice roles as Zugor in Tarzan II, Fillmore in Cars (2006), and as Mr. Conductor on Shining Time Station, as well as narrating the American dubs of Thomas & Friends.

Carlin was posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2008.

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".

He attended Corpus Christi School, a Catholic parish school of the Corpus Christi Church in Morningside Heights.

One of Carlin's closest childhood friends was Randy Jurgensen, who would later to become one of the most decorated homicide detectives in NYPD history.

His mother owned a television, which was a new technology few people owned at the time, and Carlin became an avid fan of the pioneering late-night talk show Broadway Open House during its short run.

He went to the Bronx for high school, but was expelled from Cardinal Hayes High School after three semesters at age 15.

He briefly attended Bishop Dubois High School in Harlem and Salesian High School in Goshen.

He spent many summers at Camp Notre Dame in Spofford, New Hampshire, where he regularly won the camp's drama award; upon his death, some of his ashes were scattered at Spofford Lake per his request.

Carlin joined the U.S. Air Force and trained as a radar technician.

He was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana, and began working as a DJ at radio station KJOE in nearby Shreveport.