George Carlin

He was the first-ever host of Saturday Night Live (1975) on 10/11/75, as well as the first-ever host of Fridays (1980), an ABC show fashioned after "SNL".

Release of his autobiography, "Last Words" by George with Tony Hendra, will be set for November 2009. [July 2009]

Awarded the 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Just before Christmas 2005, he experienced significant shortage of breath and other heart-related symptoms. On Christmas Day he entered Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills. During an eight-day stay he was treated for a lung infection and narrowed arteries. He received antibiotics and an angioplasty that included the placement of a double stent. The procedure was successful, but he was advised to take things slowly in the New Year.

Chosen as #2 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time (April 2004).

His list of the Seven Words You Can't Say on TV are referenced in Private Parts (1997).

Inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame in November 1994.

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 91-93. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Appeared in The Simpsons (1989) episode "D'oh-in' in the Wind," playing a former hippie. In a previous episode of the show, Krusty the Clown is told he's being sued by Carlin for stealing the "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television."

Received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in January 1987. It's located at the corner of Vine and Selma Streets, between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. Milton Berle presided over the ceremony.

He and his older brother Patrick were raised by a single mother in New York City. Their mother Mary died in 1984 at age 89.

In 1983, he returned to Cardinal Hayes High School for the school's first Hall of Fame dinner-dance, and it was to honor Msgr. Stanislaus P. Jablonski. Jablonski was the priest who told him that "maybe he should attend another school." (He did briefly and returned.) Although they were adversaries as Principal/Student, they had a sense of respect for each other.

Starred in 14 HBO specials from 1977 until his death in 2008.

Has received two Grammys: for his albums "FM & AM" (1972) and "Jammin' in New York" (1993).

George Denis Patrick Carlin was born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, to Mary (Bearey), a secretary, and Patrick John Carlin, an advertising manager for The Sun; they had met while working in marketing. His father was from Donegal, Ireland, and his mother was Irish-American. His parents divorced when he was two months old, and he was raised by his mother. The long hours the mother worked left the young George by himself for long hours every day, providing him (in his own words), the time he needed to think about various subjects, listen to radio, and practice his impersonations, that where acclaimed by his mother and coworkers since an early age. Carlin started out as a conventional comedian and had achieved a fair degree of success as a Bill Cosby style raconteur in nightclubs and on TV until the late 1960s, when he radically overhauled his persona. His routines became more insightful, introducing more serious subjects. As he aged, he became more cynic and bitter, unintentionally changing his stage persona again in a radical way throughout the '90s. This new George Carlin, usually referred to as the late George Carlin, is one of the most acclaimed and enjoyed by the public and critics. Carlin's forte is Lenny Bruce-style social and political commentary, spiced with nihilistic observations about people and religion peppered with black humor. He is also noted for his masterful knowledge and use of the English language. Carlin's notorious "Seven Dirty Words" comedy routine was part of a radio censorship case that made its way to the U. S.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 1555 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.