On Sunday George Carlin who was the dean of counterculture comedians died of heart failure at the age of 71 leaving his wife Sally Wade and his daughter Kelly Carlin McCall. According to reports George had a history of heart trouble and went into St. John’s Health Centre in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening. Jack Burns who was the other half of the comedy duo said that “He was a genius and I will miss him dearly”.
George produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, and a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies, from his own comedy specials to “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure” in 1989. George also won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards.
On Tuesday, it was announced that George was being awarded on the 10th November the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humour.
George was born on the 12th May 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.
It’s said that even with his decidedly adult-comedy bent, George never lost his childlike sense of mischief, even voicing kid-friendly projects like episodes of the TV show “Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends” and the spacey Volkswagen bus Fillmore in the 2006 Pixar hit “Cars.”
George Carlin’s first wife, Brenda, died in 1997. He is survived by wife Sally Wade; daughter Kelly Carlin McCall; son-in-law Bob McCall; Brother Patrick Carlin; and sister-in-law Marlene Carlin.
All out thoughts are with his family and friends at this time
What are your favourite memories of George?
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George Carlin was a lazy bum. The only time he tried to put on a good show was at a gig that was very important to his carrier or when he was on TV. I saw him at the Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary Alberta, he was so lazy that he brought a chair on stage which he sat in the whole show, he did not even try to put on a good show. Nobody in the audience laughed even once and Carlin didn’t care. May he rest in turmoil.
Comment by biggerbrain — June 24, 2008 @ 8:59 am
George Carlin, was a genius , a spokesman for the thinking man, all his audiences were dumb in comparison to him.
He took the stupidity of life and authority and exposed it to people constantly, but they just laughed nor realizing the true irony of the jokes.
His best show on HBO “you are all diseased” must be classified as the best thinking mans humour to ever escape from the USA.
George you were a bright candle in a stormy night called life.
I will miss you, and condolences to Sally Wade and the family.
Dave.
Comment by Dave Bliss — June 26, 2008 @ 2:43 pm