June24
You may not have liked his kind of humor, but he was a very popular comedian! George Carlin passed away Sunday, June 22, 2008 in Los Angeles due to a heart attack. He was 71 years old.

Carlin was born May 12, 1937 in New York City. He attended high school in New York City and then joined the Air Force, training as a radar technician. He also began working as a disc jockey in Louisiana. Carlin was discharged from the Air Force in 1957. In 1959, he teamed up with Jack Burns to do a comedy routine in Texas.
In the 60s Carlin set out on his own and began appearing on TV variety shows. He was a frequent performer on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. His style in the 60s was short cut hair and suits. However, as the 70s dawned, Carlin changed his appearance. He started wearing faded jeans, grew his hair longer, sported a beard and an earring. This eventually lost him some television bookings but eventually gained him some fans.
During the 70s, Carlin came up with his most famous comedy piece – “The Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television.” After performing in Milwaukee performing this routine, he was arrested under obscenity laws. The case was later dismissed.
Carlin was the first host of Saturday Night Live when the show premiered on October 11, 1975. In 1976, Carlin stopped performing regularly and it was during this five year period that Carlin suffered the first of three heart attacks.
Carlin was back in full force in the 80s and 90s performing at various locations and HBO specials. In 2001, Carlin was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual American Comedy Awards. In 2004, Carlin was performing in Las Vegas and used some very dark material which did not go over well with the audience. After telling an audience member to “blow me” he was fired from the stint. He entered drug and alcohol rehab shortly thereafter. However, Carlin would go back to Las Vegas and perform there often.
In 2006, he told one audience that he had been recently in the hospital for heart failure. Four days before his death, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC announced that Carlin would be the 2008 honoree of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor to be awarded in November.
Carlin was married to Brenda Hosbrook in 1961. They had one daughter, Kelly, in 1963. Brenda died of liver cancer in 1997. He later married Sally Wade in 1998.