George Carlin Biography

George Carlin

A high school drop-out, Carlin joined the Air Force, then worked as a radio disc jockey before moving to Los Angeles in 1962. Once he changed his image from a fresh-faced, preppy comedian to a hippie satirist, his career took off. He has recorded more than a dozen comedy albums, including the 1972 and 1992 Grammy-winners, and has written collections of routines and observations, most recently, Brain Droppings (1997). He has made many film and television appearances including a season of The George Carlin Show (1994–95) and being the first host of Saturday Night Live. A lawsuit filed after his 1972 arrest for performing “Seven Words You Can Never Use on Television” led to a 1978 Supreme Court decision supporting the right of the FCC to regulate the broadcast of inappropriate language on television.