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George Carlin Dies
Legendary comedian George Carlin, perhaps most famous for his routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say on TV," dies at 71. He succumbed to heart failure. Carlin leaves behind not only a series of memorable routines, but a legal legacy, his most celebrat
ed monologue, a frantic, informed riff on those infamous seven words, led to a Supreme Court decision on broadcasting offensive language. "Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening," said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas."He was a genius and I will miss him dearly," Jack Burns, who was the other half of a comedy duo with Carlin in the early 1960s. Carlin constantly breached the accepted boundaries of comedy and language, particularly with his routine on the 'Seven Words,' all of which are still taboo on network TV.Despite his reputation as unapologetically irreverent, Carlin was a television staple through the decades, serving as host of the "Saturday Night Live" debut in 1975 and appearing over 130 times on "The Tonight Show." He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies, including "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" in 1989. He won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards. Last week, it was announced that he was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Carlin started his career on the traditional nightclub circuit pairing with Burns to spoof TV game shows, news and movies. "George was fairly conservative when I met him," said Burns, describing himself as the more left-leaning of the two. Carlin was born on May 12, 1937, and grew up in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan. 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 his discharge in 1957, took an announcing job at WEZE in Boston. In 1960, he left with Burns for Hollywood to pursue a nightclub career as comedy team Burns & Carlin. His first break came just months later when the duo appeared on Jack Paar's "Tonight Show."Carlin is survived by wife Sally, daughter Kelly, and brother Patrick Carlin.
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