George Carlin

George Denis Patrick Carlin May 12 1937 June 22 2008 was an American standup comedian social critic actor and author who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums Carlin was noted for his black humor as well as his thoughts on politics the English language psychology religion and various taboo subjects Carlin and his Seven Dirty Words comedy routine were central to the 1978 US Supreme Court case FCC v Pacifica Foundation in which a narrow 54 decision by the justices affirmed the governments power to regulate indecent material on the public airwaves The first of his fourteen standup comedy specials for HBO was filmed in 1977 In the 1990s and 2000s Carlins routines focused on sociocultural criticism of modern American society He often commented on contemporary political issues in the United States and satirized the excesses of American culture His final HBO special Its Bad for Ya was filmed less than four months before his death In 2004 Carlin placed second on the Comedy Central list of the 100 greatest standup comedians of all time ahead of Lenny Bruce and behind Richard Pryor  He was a frequent performer and guest host on The Tonight Show during the threedecade Johnny Carson era and hosted the first episode of Saturday Night Live In 2008 he was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Description above from the Wikipedia article George Carlin licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia