Anti-Establishment comedian George Carlin, famous for his routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV" and insights on life, language and drug use, died of heart failure Sunday at age 71.
Carlin was admitted into a Santa Monica, California, hospital Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham.
Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. It was announced Tuesday that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
Carlin constantly pushed the envelop with his jokes, particularly with the "Seven Words" a routine called "The Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV."
When Carlin uttered all seven at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace. And when they were played on a New York radio station, they resulted in a Supreme Court ruling in 1978 upholding the government's authority to sanction stations for broadcasting offensive language.
"So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," he told The Associated Press earlier this year.
He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies. Carlin hosted the first broadcast of "Saturday Night Live" and noted on his website that he was "loaded on cocaine all week long."
When asked about the fallout from the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show that ended with Janet Jackson's breast-baring "wardrobe malfunction," Carlin told the AP, "What are we, surprised?
"There's an idea that the human body is somehow evil and bad and there are parts of it that are especially evil and bad, and we should be ashamed. Fear, guilt and shame are built into the attitude toward sex and the body," he added. "It's reflected in these prohibitions and these taboos that we have."
Source: Xinhua\agencies
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