- Despite his famous stage persona as an angry, volatile man, he was known to be a very kind, quiet and shy man offstage.
- He once met a young fan of Shining Time Station at an airport, and rather than disillusion him by telling him that Mr. Conductor didn't exist, he patiently explained that he was "on vacation" from the magical island.
- During his stint in the Air Force, he was court martialed three times.
- According to George in his A&E Biography profile, when he was young and would ask his mother what the meaning of a word was, she would invariably answer "Go look it up in the dictionary". He says his fascination with words, their meanings, and word play, is where his comedy routine comes from: The dissection of "words". Even his infamous "Seven Dirty Words" routine is about the meanings of these "bad" words.
- Chosen as #2 in Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of All Time (April 2004).
- He suffered heart attacks in 1978, 1982, and 1991.
- His first wife, Brenda Carlin, was always listed as Executive Producer on all his TV specials until her death. She died of cancer.
- He looked at playing Mr. Conductor on Shining Time Station (1989) as a form of "community service". Despite this, he admitted to enjoying playing Mr. Conductor and liked that people could see him for something other than "an angry old man on stage".
- The radio broadcast of an uncensored version of his routine "Seven Dirty Words You Can't Say on Radio or Television" became the center of a debate over censorship and FCC legislation over profanity.
- Some of his comedy influences include Spike Jones, The Marx Brothers, Danny Kaye, Jerry Lewis, Lenny Bruce, and Bob Newhart.
- Joined the U.S. Air Force as a radar technician.
- He was the first-ever host of Saturday Night Live (1975) on 10/11/75, as well as the first-ever host of Fridays (1980), an ABC show fashioned after "SNL".
- His wife, Brenda Carlin, died one day before his sixtieth birthday.
- Was the first posthumous recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
- Close friends with Joe Pesci and said he "prayed to him instead of God".
- He appeared in three films directed by Kevin Smith: Dogma (1999), Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and Jersey Girl (2004).
- Died two days before the 10th anniversary of his marriage to Sally Wade.
- Ran into IRS troubles in the late '70s and early '80s during another lull in work and after a heart attack when his accountants just stashed his tax bills away hoping things would "perk up". He didn't finally get out from under them until years later.
- Starred in 14 HBO specials from 1977 until his death in 2008.
- Received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in January 1987. It's located at the corner of Vine and Selma Streets, between Sunset and Hollywood Boulevards. Milton Berle presided over the ceremony.
- Spent years writing a one-man show that he planned to do on Broadway before his death. Working titles included "Watch My Language" and "New York City Boy".
- The May 2, 1990, issue of Variety announced George Carlin was a cast member of "The Teddy Bear Habit" which began filming Jun 5, 1989, in New York City under the direction of Jon Small. The film was based on the book by James Lincoln Collier. No evidence the film was ever completed or released.
- Just before Christmas 2005, he experienced significant shortage of breath and other heart-related symptoms. On Christmas Day he entered Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Beverly Hills. During an eight-day stay he was treated for a lung infection and narrowed arteries. He received antibiotics and an angioplasty that included the placement of a double stent. The procedure was successful, but he was advised to take things slowly in the New Year.
- Has many popular writings on the Internet being falsely attributed to him, such as the anonymous commentaries "I Am a Bad American" and "The Paradox of Our Time," along with several lists of one-liner jokes. Carlin states on his website that he did not write them, and "nothing you see on the Internet is mine unless it came from one of my albums, books, HBO shows, or appeared on my website.
- Inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame in November 1994.
- Jack Burns and Carlin were a comedy team from 1960-1962. When they parted ways in 1962, Burns joined the Second City comedy group in Chicago, and Carlin pursued a solo stand-up comedy career.
- Worked as a radio DJ in the northeastern United States.
- Appeared in The Simpsons (1989) episode "D'oh-in' in the Wind," playing a former hippie. In a previous episode of the show, Krusty the Clown is told he's being sued by Carlin for stealing the "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television."
- Has received two Grammys: for his albums "FM & AM" (1972) and "Jammin' in New York" (1993).
- His list of the Seven Words You Can't Say on TV are referenced in Private Parts (1997).
- In 1983, he returned to Cardinal Hayes High School for the school's first Hall of Fame dinner-dance, and it was to honor Msgr. Stanislaus P. Jablonski. Jablonski was the priest who told him that "maybe he should attend another school." (He did briefly and returned.) Although they were adversaries as Principal/Student, they had a sense of respect for each other.
- Irish-American.
- Release of his autobiography, "Last Words" by George with Tony Hendra, will be set for November 2009. (July 2009)
- He and his older brother Patrick were raised by a single mother in New York City. Their mother Mary died in 1984 at age 89.
- Worked as a Disc Jockey at KXOL-AM 1360 in Fort Worth, Texas for nine months. He was hired on the spot by Program Director Bob Bruton. There he met newsman Jack Burns. They went on to work together as a comedy duo.
- Attended (but was expelled from) Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx, New York--the same alma mater as Regis Philbin, Martin Scorsese, George Dzundza, Jamal Mashburn and Don DeLillo.
- Although his mother almost had an abortion when she was pregnant with him, he has spoken out in favor of abortion rights and even convinced his wife, Brenda, to have one when she became pregnant again in the late '60s, right in the middle of his financial troubles stemming from his outspokenness and lack of clubs willing to book him for it. According to his autobiography, since it was in the days before Roe v Wade when abortion was illegal in California, they had to meet the abortion providers in a parking lot in Burbank, and Brenda was blindfolded for the trip to the clinic and back.
- Worked as a Disc Jockey at KJOE-AM Shreveport, Louisiana.
- Immortalized in "Weird Al" Yankovic's song, "Stop Forwarding That Crap To Me", which is about a guy forwarding all kinds of chain and junk mail to him. He mentions George when referring to the quotes on the internet falsely attributed to him; "And by the way your quotes from George Carlin aren't really George Carlin.".
- Awarded the 2008 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
- Worked with Jack Burns on Los Angeles' KNX-AM in the morning as the Wright Brothers.
- Was educated mostly in Catholic schools in New York City.
- He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 1555 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
- Daughter, Kelly Carlin, was born in 1963.
- Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 91-93. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
- Worked at WEZE AM in Boston, Massachusetts in 1960. The newsman at the time was Jack Burns who partnered with Carlin as a comedy team. On weekends, they decided to.commandeer the news can to go to out of state gigs. Unfortunately for the station, one of these weekends there was a breakout at Walpole prison. When the station manager told Carlin of it and that they had needed the news can to cover the story, Carlin asserted that they could use the can at the next breakout. They were not amused, and George along with Jack Burns were fired.
- Younger brother of Patrick Carlin.
- Named after his uncle, George Beary.
- Was childhood friends with Dave Wilson. They attended summer camp together where they performed.
- Second-born son of Patrick Carlin, Sr., and Mary Carlin.
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