George Carlin

Background

George Denis Patrick Carlin was born in 1937, in Manhattan, New York. His mom, Mary Beary, was the daughter of Irish immigrants; his dad, Patrick John Carlin, was an Irish immigrant himself. Carlin’s father was the advertising manager for the famous New York paper “The Sun.” Carlin claims to have obtained his verbal gifts from his mother; she taught him to be very conscious of the American language. When Carlin was a kid, he had a T.V. at home, which was a rare acquisition back then; the comedian grew up wanting to be like the funny men in the shows and movies.

Carlin dropped out of high school and joined the U.S. Air Force. There he got a job as a disc jockey at a radio station. In 1959, he met Jack Burns, a fellow radio worker, and the two men teamed up in a comedy duo. They performed together on radio shows and in nightclubs; they also appeared on “The Tonight Show.” The duo achieved moderate success, but in 1960 Carlin decided to continue his road on his own. In the 1970s, the comedian reached enormous success. Carlin drastically changed his physical appearance and entire performance style. Carlin let his hair and beard grow; he even left the classic suit and tie and opted for T-shirts and jeans. The tone of his performances was what led him to catch everyone’s attention. Carlin’s routine took a darker approach. He started mocking American culture, bringing political, religious, and social issues to the table to criticize them while making people laugh.

Carlin married Brenda Hosbrook in 1961; the couple had one daughter, Kelly Marie Carlin. Hosbrook died in 1997. Carlin remarried a year later, in 1998, to comedy writer Sally Wade. In June 2008, at the age of 71, the iconic comedian died of heart failure.