George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author. He was known for his dark comedy and reflections on politics, English, psychology, religion, and taboo subjects.
Carlin was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live in 1975. The first of his 14 stand-up comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977, broadcast as George Carlin at USC. From the late 1980s onward, Carlin's routines focused on sociocultural criticism of American society. He often commented on political issues and satirized American culture. His "seven dirty words" routine was central to the 1978 United States Supreme Court case FCC v. Pacifica Foundation, in which a 5–4 decision affirmed the government's power to censor indecent material on public airwaves.
Carlin released his first solo album, Take-Offs and Put-Ons, in 1966. He won five Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album, for FM & AM, Jammin' in New York, Brain Droppings, Napalm and Silly Putty, and It's Bad for Ya. The lattermost was his final comedy special, filmed less than four months before his death from cardiac failure.
Carlin co-created and starred in the Fox sitcom The George Carlin Show. He is also known for his film performances in Car Wash, Outrageous Fortune, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, The Prince of Tides, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Scary Movie 3, and Jersey Girl. He had voice roles as Zugor in Tarzan II, Fillmore in Cars, and as Mr. Conductor on Shining Time Station, and narrated the American dubs of Thomas & Friends.
Carlin was posthumously awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2008. 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 and ahead of Lenny Bruce.
Early life
George Denis Patrick Carlin was born at New York Hospital in Manhattan on May 12, 1937, to Mary and Patrick John Carlin. He had an older brother, Patrick Jr., who had a major influence on his comedy and was sometimes involved. Carlin called himself "fully Irish"; his mother was born in New York to Irish immigrants and his father was an Irish immigrant from Cloghan, County Donegal. In his autobiography Last Words, he wrote about a fantasy of Ireland he often had when his first wife 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 a police officer for the New York City Police Department who wrote out the works of William Shakespeare by hand for fun. Carlin's parents separated when he was two months old because his father was an alcoholic, who—according to Carlin—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 effective use of the English language from his mother, though they had a difficult relationship and he often ran away from home. He grew up at 519 West 121st Street, in Manhattan's Morningside Heights neighborhood, 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 became one of the most decorated homicide detectives in NYPD history. His mother had a television set—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. 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 idolized Danny Kaye and wanted to be just like him. His career plan was to work his way up through various performing occupations to eventually become a comedic actor like Kaye, and although he eventually realized this would not happen, he constantly referred in interviews to his sad realization of not being able to attain his boyhood dream. Near the end of his life, he took more acting roles, having never really given up on his lifelong dream.
Carlin joined the U.S. Air Force and was 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 in July 1956. Called an "unproductive airman" by his superiors, he received a general discharge on July 29, 1957. During his time in the Air Force, he was court-martialed three times and received many nonjudicial punishments and reprimands.
Career
1959–1969: Early work and breakthrough
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 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. Years later, when he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Carlin requested that it be placed in front of the KDAY studios near the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Vine Street. Burns and Carlin recorded their only album, Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight, in May 1960 at Cosmo Alley in Hollywood. After two years as a team, they parted to pursue individual careers, but "remain the best of friends".
In the 1960s, Carlin began appearing on television variety shows, where he played various characters, including a Native American sergeant, a stupid radio disc jockey, and a hippie weatherman. Variations on these routines appear on his 1967 debut album, Take-Offs and Put-Ons, which was recorded live in 1966 at The Roostertail in Detroit and issued by RCA Victor in 1967. During this period, Carlin appeared on Tonight Starring Jack Paar before becoming a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. He was one of Johnny Carson's most frequent substitutes during his three-decade tenure. Carlin was also cast as a co-host alongside Buddy Greco in Away We Go, a 1967 CBS comedy-variety show, which was the summer replacement for The Jackie Gleason Show. His material during his early career and his appearance—he wore suits and had short-cropped hair—was seen as conventional, particularly compared to his later anti-establishment material.
Carlin was present at Lenny Bruce's arrest for obscenity at the Gate of Horn club in Chicago on December 5, 1962. As the police began detaining audience members for questioning, they asked Carlin for identification. After responding that he did not believe in government-issued IDs, Carlin was arrested and taken to jail with Bruce in the same vehicle.
1970–1971: Transformation
In the late 1960s, Carlin made about $250,000 annually. In 1970, he 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. He lost some TV bookings by dressing strangely for a comedian at a time when clean-cut, well-dressed comedians were the norm. He hired talent managers Jeff Wald and Ron De Blasio to help him change his image, making him look more "hip" for a younger audience. Wald put Carlin into much smaller clubs such as The Troubadour in West Hollywood and The Bitter End in New York City, and later said that Carlin's income declined by 90% but his later career arc was greatly improved.1972–1979: Stardom and acclaim
In 1970, record producer Monte Kay formed the Little David Records subsidiary of Atlantic Records, with comedian Flip Wilson as co-owner. Kay and Wilson signed Carlin away from RCA Records and recorded a Carlin performance at Washington, D.C.'s Cellar Door in 1971, which was released as the album FM & AM in 1972. De Blasio was busy managing the fast-paced career of Freddie Prinze and was about to sign Richard Pryor, so he released Carlin to Little David general manager Jack Lewis, who, like Carlin, was somewhat wild and rebellious. Using his own persona as a springboard for his new comedy, he was presented by Ed Sullivan in a performance of "The Hair Piece" and quickly regained his popularity as the public caught on to his style.Starting in 1972, singer-songwriter Kenny Rankin was Carlin's label-mate on Little David Records, and Rankin served many times as Carlin's musical guest or opening act during the early 1970s. The two flew together in Carlin's private jet; Carlin says that Rankin relapsed into using cocaine while on tour since Carlin had so much available. FM & AM proved very popular and marked Carlin's change from mainstream to counterculture comedy. The "AM" side was an extension of Carlin's previous style, with zany but relatively clean routines parodying aspects of American life. The "FM" side introduced Carlin's new style, with references to marijuana and birth control pills, and a playful examination of the word "shit". In this way, Carlin renewed a style of radical social commentary comedy Lenny Bruce had pioneered in the late 1950s.
In this period, Carlin perfected his well-known "seven dirty words" routine, which appears on Class Clown as follows: "'Shit', 'piss', 'fuck', 'cunt', 'cocksucker', 'motherfucker', and 'tits'. Those are the heavy seven. Those are the ones that'll infect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war." On July 21, 1972, Carlin was arrested after performing the routine at Milwaukee's Summerfest and charged with violating obscenity laws. The case, which prompted Carlin for a time to call the words the "Milwaukee Seven", was dismissed in December when the judge declared that the language was indecent but that Carlin had the freedom to say it as long as he caused no disturbance. In 1973, a man complained to the Federal Communications Commission after listening with his son to a similar routine, "Filthy Words", from Carlin's Occupation: Foole, which was broadcast one afternoon on radio station WBAI. The FCC cited Pacifica for violating regulations that prohibit broadcasting "obscene" material. The Supreme Court of the United States upheld the FCC action by a vote of 5 to 4, ruling that the routine was "indecent but not obscene" and that the FCC had authority to prohibit such broadcasts during hours when children were likely to be among the audience.
The controversy increased Carlin's fame. He eventually expanded the "dirty words" theme with a seemingly interminable end to a performance, finishing with his voice fading out in one HBO version and accompanying the credits in the Carlin at Carnegie special for the 1982–83 season, and a set of 49 webpages organized by subject and embracing his "Incomplete List of Impolite Words". On stage, during a rendition of this routine, Carlin learned that his previous comedy album FM & AM had won a Grammy. Midway through the performance on the album Occupation: Foole, he can be heard thanking someone for handing him a piece of paper. He then exclaims "shit!" and proudly announces his win to the audience. Over his career, Carlin was arrested seven times for reciting the "Seven Dirty Words" routine.
Carlin hosted the premiere broadcast of NBC's Saturday Night Live on October 11, 1975. Per his request, he did not appear in its sketches. The next season, 1976–77, he appeared regularly on CBS Television's Tony Orlando & Dawn variety series. Carlin unexpectedly stopped performing regularly in 1976, when his career appeared to be at its height. For the next five years, he rarely performed stand-up, although it was at this time that he began doing specials for HBO as part of its On Location series. Carlin did 14 specials, including 2008's It's Bad for Ya. He later revealed that the first of his three heart attacks occurred during this layoff period. His first two HBO specials aired in 1977 and 1978.