Iconic Comedian George Carlin Dies

George Carlin's Legacy

George Carlin spent 50 of his 71 years in show business. He took the stage in his first solo stand up routine in 1962 and continued working up until about a week before he began complaining of heart troubles. The comedian was no stranger to heart health matters as he suffered his first heart attack 30 years ago, at the age of 41.

Carlin's Expansive Career

Most remember Carlin for the "seven words you can't say on television" bit in his routine. After the routine aired on a New York radio station in its entirety, the radio station and Carlin became the subject of an FCC case that landed in the United States Supreme Court. Surprisingly, Carlin's career didn't begin with these now infamous "seven words." No, when he first got into show business, his routine didn't contain any of those words. Before being categorized as "indecent" by many, he had a few guest spots on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and even acted alongside queen of clean Doris Day in With Six you get Eggroll. Nope, you don't get much cleaner than Mary Tyler Moore and Doris Day.

After his few acting stints, Carlin returned to the comedy club stage in 1962 and 10 years later, he gained such a large following that he graduated from small nightclub stages to Carnegie Hall.

Carlin developed a deep friendship with director Kevin Smith and appeared in a number of Smith's films. He appeared alongside Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in Dogma and also made appearances in the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventures films, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Jersey Girl. Most recently, Carlin voiced the role of Fillmore in the animated Disney film Cars.