Comedian George Carlin dies of heart failure

OFten called groundbreaking, comedian George Carlin died Sunday in Los Angeles. He was 71.

Carlin was best known for his routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television," which appeared on 1972's "Class Clown" album. Carlin will always be known for his raunchy but insightful humor .


Carlin was born on May 12, 1937. By December of the same year his parents were seperated. In 1941 Carlin moved movesd to New York. He spend the next 25 years developing what was to be his style.
In 1953 he dropped out of school and a year later he joined the Air Force.
Carlin Received three court-martial and numerous Article Fifteens (form of punishment just below court-martial). Attitude toward military service can be discerned by noting history of changes in rank: A/B, A/3c, A/2c, A/3c, A/2c, A/3c, A/B, A/3c.

In 1956 - Carlin became a disc jockey at radio station KJOE, Shreveport, La.
In 1957 he received a general discharge under honorable conditions from USAF.
In 972 - First appearance at Carnegie Hall, New York City. According to Carlin, "Mother appalled that people applaud filthy, blasphemous, anti-American material."
In 1972 He was arrested at Summerfest in Milwaukee for using indecent language in front of wheelchair-bound children.

During the 70's it was his ability to raise eyebrows that made him famous.

Carlin was best known for his routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television," which appeared in 1972's "Class Clown" album. When Carlin mentioned all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace, the AP reported. The comedy sketch prompted a landmark indecency case after WBAI-FM radio aired it in 1973.

The case was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where the justices ruled on a 5-to-4 vote that the sketch was "indecent but not obscene," giving the FCC broad leeway to determine what constituted indecency on the airwaves.

He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies, from his own comedy specials to "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" in 1989 -- a testament to his range from cerebral satire and cultural commentary to downright silliness (and sometimes hitting all points in one stroke).

"Why do they lock gas station bathrooms?" he once mused. "Are they afraid someone will clean them?"

He won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards .

Carlin was 71.