LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Comedian George Carlin, a counter-culture hero famed for his routines about drugs and dirty words, died of heart failure at a Los Angeles-area hospital on Sunday, a spokesman said. He was 71.


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Carlin, who had a history of heart and drug-dependency problems, died at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains, spokesman Jeff Abraham told Reuters.



Known for his edgy, provocative material, Carlin achieved status as an anti-Establishment icon in the 1970s with stand-up bits full of drug references and a routine called "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television." A regulatory battle over a radio broadcast of the routine ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court.



In the 1978 case, Federal Communications Commission vs. Pacifica Foundation, the top U.S. court ruled that the words cited in Carlin's routine were indecent, and that the government's broadcast regulator could ban them from being aired at times when children might be listening.



Carlin's comedic sensibility often came back to a central theme: humanity is doomed.



"I don't have any beliefs or allegiances. I don't believe in this country, I don't believe in religion, or a god, and I don't believe in all these man-made institutional ideas," he told Reuters in a 2001 interview.



Carlin, who wrote several books and performed in many television comedy specials, is survived by his wife Sally Wade, and daughter Kelly Carlin McCall.



http://news. yahoo. com/s/nm/20080623/us_nm/carlin_dc

that sucks

WOW!!!

im sad!!!

no fn way....

yea i saw that

is this a fu@kin joke, i did not here this

He will always be Mr Conductor on Thomas the tank engine

Oh GOD...
I didn't even know....
Damn that man was FUNNY!!!!
what a shame

Oh my. I can't belive that.

i just got a text about that............thats ****in horrible..................... he was the best.........

Wow, he was a monolith.

awwwwwww........George

An absolute monster master of the language!


"This is a little prayer dedicated to the separation of church and state. I guess if they are going to force those kids to pray in schools they might as well have a nice prayer like this: Our Father who art in heaven, and to the republic for which it stands, thy kingdom come, one nation indivisible as in heaven, give us this day as we forgive those who so proudly we hail. Crown thy good into temptation but deliver us from the twilight's last gleaming. Amen and Awomen."

I liked him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KVTfcAyYGg

you have to watch this and listen to it big time

WHAT??!! That is really a shame. What a funny sharp guy!

I was just talking about him Sunday and wondering whether he was going to ever tour again. I've lost one of my favorite comedian. It's so sad that the greats are dying in to many numbers.

Oh man that is sad. Thanks George! We will miss you buddy!

Carlin was the man!!! You will be missed.....