George Carlin, 1937-2008

Arts and Culture

George Carlin, 1937-2008

Photos of the legendary comedian George Carlin, who died Sunday of heart failure.

Legendary comedian George Carlin died of heart failure at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday. He was 71.

Carlin's staunch defense of free speech in his most famous routine, 'Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television,' led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity. Shown here in a promotional photo for 'Saturday Night Live,' Carlin served as host for the debut of the show in 1975.

When Carlin performed the 'Seven Words' routine at a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace. Milwaukee police officers are shown here leading him off the Summerfest grounds.

Carlin produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies. He also narrated the American version of the children's show 'Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends,' from 1991-98.

He won four Grammy Awards, each for best spoken comedy album, and was nominated for five Emmy awards. On Tuesday, it was announced that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

"My name is a footnote in American legal history, which I'm perversely kind of proud of," Carlin told the AP earlier this year.

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Legendary comedian George Carlin died of heart failure at a hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., on Sunday. He was 71.

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