George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American actor, author, comedian and social critic.
47 Facts About George Carlin
2.
George Carlin was known for his black comedy and reflections on politics, the English language, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects.
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George Carlin often commented on American political issues and satirized American culture.
4.
George 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.
5.
George Denis Patrick Carlin was born at New York Hospital in Manhattan on May 12,1937, the second of two sons born to Mary and Patrick John Carlin.
6.
George Carlin's mother was born in New York City to Irish immigrants and his father was himself an Irish immigrant from Cloghan, a village in County Donegal in Ulster, leading Carlin to later describe himself as "fully Irish".
7.
George Carlin's father died when Carlin was eight years old.
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George Carlin's maternal grandfather, Dennis Bearey, was an NYPD police officer, who wrote out the works of William Shakespeare by hand for fun.
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George 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.
10.
George Carlin 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".
11.
George Carlin attended Corpus Christi School, a Roman Catholic parish school of the Corpus Christi Church in Morningside Heights.
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George Carlin's 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.
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George Carlin went to the Bronx for high school but, after three semesters, was expelled from Cardinal Hayes High School at age 15.
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George Carlin briefly attended Bishop Dubois High School in Harlem and Salesian High School in Goshen.
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George Carlin spent many summers at Camp Notre Dame in Spofford, New Hampshire, where he regularly won the camp's drama award.
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George Carlin joined the US Air Force and trained as a radar technician.
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George Carlin was stationed at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana, and began working as a disc jockey at radio station KJOE in nearby Shreveport.
18.
In 1959, George Carlin met Jack Burns, a fellow DJ at radio station KXOL in Fort Worth, Texas.
19.
Years later when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, George Carlin requested that it be placed in front of the KDAY studios near the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street.
20.
Burns and George Carlin recorded their only album, Burns and George Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight, in May 1960 at Cosmo Alley in Hollywood.
21.
George Carlin became one of Carson's most frequent substitutes during the host's three-decade reign.
22.
George Carlin was cast in Away We Go, a 1967 comedy show that aired on CBS.
23.
Over time, George Carlin changed his routines and his appearance; he grew his hair long, sported a beard and earrings, and typically dressed in T-shirts and blue jeans.
24.
George Carlin lost some TV bookings by dressing strangely for a comedian at a time when clean-cut, well-dressed comedians were the norm.
25.
George Carlin hired talent managers Jeff Wald and Ron De Blasio to help him change his image, making him look more "hip" for a younger audience.
26.
George Carlin was arrested seven times for reciting the "Seven Dirty Words" routine.
27.
George Carlin hosted the premiere broadcast of NBC's Saturday Night Live on October 11,1975.
28.
George Carlin unexpectedly stopped performing regularly in 1976, when his career appeared to be at its height.
29.
George Carlin continued doing HBO specials every year or two over the following decade and a half.
30.
George Carlin hosted SNL for the second time on November 10,1984, this time appearing in several sketches.
31.
George Carlin began to achieve prominence as a film actor with a major supporting role in the 1987 comedy hit Outrageous Fortune, starring Bette Midler and Shelley Long; it was his first notable screen role after a handful of previous guest roles on television series.
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In 1991, George Carlin had a major supporting role in the film The Prince of Tides, which starred Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand, portraying the gay neighbor of the main character's suicidal sister.
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In 1993, Carlin began a weekly Fox sitcom, The George Carlin Show, playing New York City taxicab driver George O'Grady.
34.
George Carlin later explained that there were other, more pragmatic reasons for abandoning his acting career in favor of standup.
35.
In 2001, George Carlin was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual American Comedy Awards.
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George Carlin performed regularly as a headliner in Las Vegas, but in 2004 his run at the MGM Grand Las Vegas was terminated after an altercation with his audience.
37.
In 2007, George Carlin voiced the wizard in Happily N'Ever After, his last film.
38.
The couple's only child, Kelly Marie George Carlin, was born on June 15,1963.
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George Carlin eventually married Wade in a private and unregistered ceremony on June 24,1998.
40.
George Carlin stated several times that he had battled addictions to alcohol, Vicodin, and cocaine, and spent some time in a rehab facility in late 2004.
41.
George Carlin had a history of heart problems spanning three decades.
42.
George Carlin's death occurred one week after his last performance at The Orleans Hotel and Casino.
43.
Sirius XM Satellite Radio has since devoted an entire channel to George Carlin, entitled George Carlin's Corner, featuring all of his comedy albums, live concerts, and works from his private archives.
44.
George Carlin became its first posthumous recipient on November 10,2008, in Washington, DC Comedians honoring him at the ceremony included Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin, Lewis Black, Denis Leary, Joan Rivers, and Margaret Cho.
45.
George Carlin later indicated that the project had been shelved in favor of completion of her own project, an autobiographical one-woman show, A Carlin Home Companion: Growing Up with George.
46.
Moneyball screenwriter Stan Chervin announced in October 2018 that a biopic of George Carlin was in process.
47.
Many online quotes have been falsely attributed to George Carlin, including various joke lists, rants, and other pieces.