Just as sad for me as last week’s news that Stan Winston died was last night’s news that George Carlin has passed. Carlin was admitted to the hospital last night and died shortly before 6pm PST of heart failure. He was 71 years old. Carlin was a legendary comedian perhaps most famous for her “Seven Dirty Words” act that prompted a landmark Supreme Court case on indecency. But all that controversy aside, he was an insanely funny comedian; one of the best of all-time. I remember when I was still in middle school getting the Carlin tapes “What Am I Doing in New Jersey?” and “Jammin’ In New York.” I would actually turn off the Genesis to go into my room and just listen to those tapes over and over. Carlin starred in movies like BILL AND TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURES, DOGMA and JERSEY GIRL (as well as a voiceover for CARS) and had a brief Fox sitcom titled “The George Carlin Show.” But it was Carlin’s comedy that would be his legacy. He pulled no punches and as recently as 2004 told a Las Vegas audience “People who go to Las Vegas, you’ve got to question their fucking intellect to start with. Traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to essentially give your money to a large corporation is kind of fucking moronic.” As you might expect, he was fired immediately after the show. If you’re not familiar with his work or simply want to reminisce, you should definitely head to YouTube’s archive of his work to remember a true master of his craft.
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