George Carlin

Headlined his fourteenth and final HBO special, “George Carlin: It’s Bad For Ya”

Lent his voice to the animated feature "Happily N’ever After"

Announced, while on a national comedy tour, that he had recently recovered from heart failure

Provided the voice of Fillmore, a VW Microbus with a psychedelic paint job in the animated feature "Cars"

Appeared in Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza’s documentary “The Aristocrats,” about a long-running and particularly vulgar joke favored by stand-up comedians

Premiered his thirteenth HBO special, “Life is Worth Losing”

Cast in his biggest and most dramatic role to date as Ben Affleck’s blue collar father in Smith's "Jersey Girl"

Fired from his headlining position at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas after an altercation with his audience; soon after announced he would enter rehab for drug and alcohol addiction

Released his book, When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?

Penned the book, Napalm and Silly Putty

Taped twelfth HBO special, “Complaints and Grievances”; originally titled “I Like It A Lot When People Die,” but was changed after the September 11th attacks

Filmed eleventh HBO special, “You Are All Diseased”; earned two Emmy nominations and a Grammy nomination for the CD version

Played a satirically marketing-oriented Roman Catholic cardinal in Kevin Smith's "Dogma"

Honored at the Aspen Comedy Festival with a retrospective "George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy" hosted by Jon Stewart; the special was nominated for two Emmys

Published Brain Droppings , Carlin's first real book

Had rare dramatic TV role in the CBS miniseries "Larry McMurtry's Streets of Laredo"

Cast in (also executive produced and co-wrote the pilot) the FOX sitcom, "The George Carlin Show" as a NYC cab driver

Headlined eighth HBO special "Jammin' in New York"; first of his specials to be broadcast live on the network; received first Grammy Award for the resulting comedy album

Had a major supporting role in the film "Prince of Tides," along with Nick Nolte and Barbra Streisand

Provided the narrative voice for the American version of the children's show "Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends" (PBS)

Replaced Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor on the PBS children's series, "Shining Time Station"

Reprised role of Rufus in the sequel "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey"

Suffered the worst of his three heart attacks while driving to Las Vegas

Filmed seventh HBO special, “Doin’ It Again”; also released as an album under the title Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics , which earned a Grammy nomination

Cast as Rufus, the mentor of the titular characters in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure"

Filmed the HBO special "What Am I Doing In New Jersey?"; also released as a comedy album

Made TV-movie debut as a ghost in "Justin Case" an installment of ABC's "Disney Sunday Movie"

Cast as a drunken, ex-hippie tour guide in "Outrageous Fortune" opposite Bette Midler and Shelley Long

Honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (January)

Headlined (and wrote) a failed pilot for HBO called “2C”

Again hosted "Saturday Night Live"; also appearing in sketches

Taped fourth HBO special, "Carlin on Campus"

Published first book, Sometimes a Little Brain Damage Can Help

Filmed third HBO special, “Carlin at Carnegie”

Suffered second heart attack (reportedly while watching a baseball game at Dodger Stadium)

Returned to comedy with the comedy album, A Place for My Stuff

Headlined second HBO special "On Location: George Carlin at Phoenix"

Suffered first heart attack, primarily due to a punishing schedule and a growing cocaine addiction

Appeared in his first comedy special for the HBO Network, “On Location: George Carlin at USC”

Appeared regularly performing a stand-up routine on "Tony Orlando and Dawn" (CBS)

Had role of a cab driver in the feature comedy "Car Wash"

Served as host of the first broadcast of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" (October 11)

Made Carnegie Hall debut

Recorded landmark comedy albums FM & AM and Class Clown ; the later included a version of his famous “Seven Dirty Words You Can Never Say on Television”

Made feature debut in the Doris Day vehicle “With Six You Get Eggroll”

Hosted and wrote for the CBS variety series, "Away We Go"

Made 80 major TV appearances and worked all the top nightclubs

Released first solo comedy album, Take-Offs and Put-Ons ; earned first Grammy nomination

Acting debut, played a recurring role as Marlo Thomas's agent on “That Girl” (ABC)

Had a 12-week stint as a writer and performer on “The Kraft Summer Music Hall” (NBC)

Moved to Los Angeles

First of 29 appearances on the syndicated talk show "The Merv Griffin Show" (July)

Made his debut as a solo stand-up act on “The Tonight Show” (NBC); guest hosted by Mort Sahl

Launched his nightclub comic career working with a partner, Jack Burns; the duo recorded a live album, Burns and Carlin at the Playboy Club Tonight (released in 1963)

Briefly worked at a station in Boston, MA, before moving to Fort Worth, TX and working there as a deejay

Began working as a disc jockey while serving in the US Air Force in Shreveport, Louisiana

Born and raised in NYC

Performed in nightclubs, folk clubs, and coffee houses