Legendary comedian George Carlin dies

Jeff Abraham said Carlin went into St. John’s Hospital on Sunday afternoon, complaining of chest pain. Carlin died at 5:55 p.m. He was 71.

The dean of counterculture comedians, Carlin constantly pushed the envelope with his jokes, particularly with 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.

Carlin, who had a history of heart trouble, performed as recently as last weekend at The Orleans. Carlin owned a condominium in Las Vegas and was part of the headliner rotation at The Orleans. He also performed there in April and was scheduled to return in August.

The comedian had performed in Las Vegas since his straight-laced, coat-and-tie days, and once recalled that after he was fired from the Frontier for cursing in 1970 that he began to develop his more famous counter-culture persona.

At the end of 2004, Carlin and the MGM Grand severed a longtime relationship because some ticket-buyers complained about suicide themes in his act being too dark.

In an interview with the Review-Journal in August, Carlin said that in lieu of a “sudden catastrophic illness,” he would consider retirement after his 15th HBO special and his 75th birthday, “a couple of nice round numbers. And then I could go ahead and write the memoir. That’s a thought, anyway.”

It was announced Tuesday that Carlin was to be awarded in November the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Carlin earned the honor through his 50-year career as a Grammy-winning comedian, writer and actor.

Review-Journal entertainment writer Mike Weatherford and The Associated Press contributed to this report.