George Carlin
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George Carlin was a comedian, satirist and free speech activist. He was born on May 12, 1937 in Upper West Side Manhattan to Patrick Carlin and Mary Beary.
His mother sent him to the Catholic School Corpus Christi and later Cardinal Hayes High School in the South Bronx. He never had much belief in his religion. At his first communion he was told that he would be able to feel God’s presence with him. When he didn't he had questions which nobody seemed to be able or willing to answer and he began to grow skeptical about the whole idea of religious institutions. At age 17 Carlin failed out of High School and joined the Air Force. After he was discharged from the Air Force he landed a job as a DJ. Later still in 1960 he and Jack Burns teamed up to form a comedy duo. Two years later he went solo.
The pressure soon began to get to Carlin and he became addicted to drugs. In 1972 George Carlin’s popularity skyrocketed when he premiered his monologue “7 Words you can’t say on Television”. He was arrested on July 21, 1972; charged with violating obscenity laws. The charges were dropped in December of the same year when a judge declared that Carlin could say it as long as it didn’t cause a disturbance.
Although he was raised Catholic, George regularly denounced his religion. During another of his highly controversial routines, George speaks about his views on religion and religious institutions. He says, “I tried to believe that there is a God, who created each of us in His own image and likeness, loves us very much and keeps a close eye on things. I really tried to believe that, but I gotta tell you, the longer you live, the more you look around, the more realize, something is fucked up!” (Carlin; On Religion).
In 1975 he was the first ever guest host of Saturday Night Live and he seemed at the height of his game. However by 1976, although his career was soaring, George’s stand-up appearances decreased. The reason, though many people were not aware at the time, was that his drug and alcohol consumption was at an all time high and in 1978 he was hospitalized after suffering a heart attack.
George returned to the stage in 1981. He wrote books and appeared in many films such including Outrageous Fortune, and the Bill and Ted movies. From 1991-1993 he played “Mr. Conductor” on Shining Time Station. From 1993-1995 he had his own Fox show entitled The George Carlin Show and in 1999 he appeared in the wildly controversial movie Dogma.
He was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy Awards in 2001. In the years to come George would continue to make people laugh. In 2004 he announced that he was going to enter himself into rehab to seek treatment for his alcohol and drug addictions. On June 22, 2008 he died of heart failure after being admitted to the hospital because of pains in his chest. He was 71 years old. Carlin’s final requests stated that he did not want any sort of public or religious service or funeral. He requested that friends and family simply gather together to “laugh and listen to rhythm and blues music”. (National Catholic Reporter: Pg. 3)
All information, unless otherwise stated, is borrowed from Wikipedia.
