Comedian George Carlin Dies In Los Angeles At 71

[featherfingers]

Comedian George Carlin dies in Los Angeles at 71

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.

Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, died at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.

Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine about seven dirty words you could not say on television. A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of his "Filthy Words" routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
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(Reporting by Dean Goodman; Editing by Patricia Zengerle)

 

[Tamia78]

OMG!!!!!! He was freakin awesome........he will be missed.

--T

 

[chicago]

Wow. That sucks.

 

[KrazieDog]

Damn Frankie, I was coming to post it when I saw your thread. WOW, that's sad news. Truly a funny son of a bitch! And I'm sure he'd think that to be a respectful remark. 🙂 Sad day.

 

[Tick L]

Damn, this sucks... really didn't see this coming.

He will definitely go down as a legend though, and definitely one of the greatest comedians of all time. He will be missed.

 

[Gothika]

dang that realy sux he was realy good

 

[Saeria]

damn.. that's all i can say is damn

 

[RobAce]

Carlin was not only a comedic icon, but a cultural icon as well.

To a degree I saw him as a mentor to myself in his comedic styling and at times with some of my humor I tried my best to emulate him.
My world is now a little less funny than it was with him in it.
Though a lot of what he said I did not always agree with, I was still able to laugh no matter what he talked about.

He had that effect on me unlike many other comedians around today.
Edgy, funny, straight-forward and a true all time great.

The world will laugh a little less without him.

Rest in Peace George.

Your comedy will live on forever, a deserving tribute.

Rob

 

[featherfingers]

Damn Frankie, I was coming to post it when I saw your thread. WOW, that's sad news. Truly a funny son of a bitch! And I'm sure he'd think that to be a respectful remark. 🙂 Sad day.

I just got home from visiting a friend about fifteen minutes ago. I turned on my computer and there it was... the sad news. I've posted a lot of 'recent death' threads here at TMF but this one has hit me the hardest. I really loved that guy.

 

[chicago]

"Thomas the Tank Engine" will never be the same again.

 

[SlaverTickler]

All I can say is...

All hail the king. Their will never be another like George.

 

[Adam]

George Carlin was one of my all-time favorites! Truly a sad day. He will be sorely missed. 🙁

 

[Lilmissticklishfeet]

"Thomas the Tank Engine" will never be the same again.

Oh yeah! I forgot that he was the narrator on the show. I used to love that show. Heaven just got a little funnier because of George Carlin. RIP!

 

[cloudgazer2k]

just heard about this myself, and i'm a bit tore up.

i've seen all his shows. watched him get edgier, angrier, and funnier. kinda grew up on his comedy specials .

sucks he had to go so soon, but i wish his family well.

"Some people see things that are and ask, Why? Some people dream of things that never were and ask, Why not? Some people have to go to work and don't have time for all that."
George Carlin

 

[alchemy]

...and yet ANOTHER one of my mentors and heroes is dead.

First Hunter, then Carlin

George, you're gone but never forgotten.

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...things already look a little less bright🙁

 

[Tomskee]

That's terrible news. Carlin, Pryor and Rickles are my all-time favorite comics. Rickles is the last of the old school greats.

 

[manic971]

The best, and one of my personal heroes. I'm really at a loss for words right now...

 

[SamuelKhan]

The absolute best is gone. George will be missed.

 

[CitY of MicA]

What a reception for the man. This thread was only begun an hour ago. I liked his baseball-football routine.

That's terrible news. Carlin, Pryor and Rickles are my all-time favorite comics. Rickles is the last of the old school greats.

Mort Sahl is still alive and doing his thing...

 

[featherfingers]

"Thomas the Tank Engine" will never be the same again.

Here's something for the Thomas fans:
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What a reception for the man. This thread was only begun an hour ago. I liked his baseball-football routine.

Here ya go, MicA:
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[Kira Yamato]

The world has lost one of the funniest men to ever walk this Earth. George was one of my all time favorite comedians. He will truely be missed.

 

[Ivory Tickler]

When I first became really aware of who George Carlin was, it was when I first saw the movie "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure". My father, who was a big Carlin fan, was surprised to see him in an acting role, only knowing his stand-up routines. He soon introduced me to some of those famous routines and I understood what made him such an influential part of our modern culture as well as the world of comedy.

Rest in peace, Mr. Carlin.

 

[Aragon]

FUCK!!!!!!!

There are few times I am truly affected by anyones death as I am very used to it. This man fought for free speech all the way to the Supreme Court and for that I respect him. He made me laugh and gave me an understanding that I was not alone in my beliefs. Most of all, the man was a personal hero and I once had a compliment when I was told after stepping down from a stage and told I was cut from the same cloth as that great man.

All I can say is FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We will all miss you George.

 

[alchemy]

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[Amnesiac]

MOTHERFUCKER.

George Carlin was my first introduction to true standup comedy after Eddie Murphy (Delirious was required viewing at 11-14 when I was young), and I've never missed a standup special since. I was making shitty tape-recorder-up-to-the-scrambled-HBO-signal recordings long before DVD came out to listen in the car. He was also my sister's favorite.

He came to the town I'm living in about 4 years ago (just before the news story about his painkiller addiction came out) and held 2 shows back to back, the second one of which I made it to. It was the rawest, most hardcore shit I'd ever heard out of his mouth in my life and I was howling. He was still using notecards to test out the material and he was NOT a happy man (I'm assuming he was tired, because it was 9:00 at night and he'd already done the show less than 40 mintues earlier); At one point, there was a drunken heckler--because the venue served alcohol--who was giving incoherent accolades to him, and George snapped at him saying:

"Hey I don't need help motherfucker, your name's not on the ticket!"

The audience cheered, and on went the show. I'm just extremely unhappy that it all happened before his "It's Bad For Ya" show (his 15th HBO special) and his acceptance of the Mark Twain Award. The things he would have said on that show, I'll unfortunately never know.