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George Carlin: Biography: Early Life
George Carlin: Biography: Early Life
George Carlin: Biography: Early Life
Ban-Fntn Ionu
Jurnalism, Grupa 1
George Carlin was born on May 12, 1937, in the Bronx, New York. After dropping out of high
school and enlisting in the Air Force, Carlin began taking radio jobs, eventually attracting the
attention of Lenny Bruce, who helped get them appearances on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar.
Carlin went on to become a popular stand-up comedian, author, and film and television actor.
Early Life
George Denis Patrick Carlin was born May 12, 1937, in the Bronx, New York. Carlin and his
older brother, Pat, were primarily raised by their mother in Manhattan's Morningside Heights
section. Mary Carlin, a devout Irish Catholic, worked as a secretary to support her children. She
had left Carlin's father Patrick, a national advertising manager for the New York Sun, when he
was an infant.
Carlin attended parochial school and much of his negative religious sentiment stems from his
experience as a Roman Catholic altar boy. Carlin completed two years of high school before
dropping out in the ninth grade.
In 1954, at age 17, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as a radar technician and was stationed at
Shreveport, Louisiana. Over the next three years, Carlin earned his high school equivalency and
moonlighted as a disc jockey at a local radio station. He also received three court-martials and
numerous disciplinary punishments. After a general discharge in 1957, he took radio jobs in
Boston and Fort Worth, Texas.
he re-invented his image and adopted a less conventional, somewhat vulgar comedy routine.
Carlin's scripted monologues began to represent his disillusioned attitude toward the world in
which explored the highly sensitive issues of Vietnam, politics, religion, American culture, drugs,
the demise of humanity and the right to free speech.
Comic Great
In 1977, Carlin starred in his first of HBO comedy specials, On Location: George Carlin at USC.
In all, he did 14 such specials, including 2008's It's Bad For Ya!
Carlin received two Grammy Awards for FM & AM (1990) and Jammin' in New York (1992).
Carlin published Brain Droppings in 1997. The book included his comedic take on life, society
and politics. It spent 18 weeks on the New York Times' best-seller list. Two years later, syndicated
columnist Mike Barnicle was suspended from the Boston Globe, after he had plagiarized
passages from Carlin's book. To Carlin's benefit, the widely publicized controversy led to an
increase in book sales.
Throughout his career, Carlin took on a number of comedic roles in films such as Outrageous
Fortune (1987), Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1990), The Prince of Tides (1991) and
Dogma(1999). In 2006, he provided the voice of Fillmore, a hippie Volkswagen bus, in the
animated movie Cars.
Legacy
Carlin was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1987.
In addition to his acting, writing and recording, Carlin continued to perform about 150 dates a
year on the road. In 2004, he placed second behind Richard Pryor on Comedy Central's list of
"Top 100 Comics of All Time." On June 17, 2008, just five days before his death, it was
announced that he was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.