Eddie in "The Prince of Tides"

June 23, 2008
On the list of Comedy Central's Greatest Comedians of All Time, George Carlin is ranked ahead of Lenny Bruce and Richard Pryor. Carlin's comedy stylings began during the 1960s with appearances on Ed Sullivan and The Tonight Show. His humor was, at first, quite innocent. It wasn't until the 1970s, whoever, when George Carlin became famous for his unique and sometimes irreverent perspective on life, religion and politics. His Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television routine became his comedy trademark, thus establishing him as the cutting edge comic of our time.

Carlin was also an actor, having appeared in minor film roles, usually as a funny man in character parts. His first screen appearance was in a rather nondescript and unmemorable role. He played a sarcastic soda jerk opposite Doris Day in the 1968 family comedy "With Six You Get Eggroll."  Streisand used him for an element of comic relief when Carlin was cast as Eddie in "The Prince of Tides." More recently, Carlin had a significant role in the Matt Damon - Ben Affleck religious satire, "Dogma."  In that film, Carlin, the man of The Seven Words and an outspoken critic of catholic doctrine, was ingeniously cast as a Roman Catholic Cardinal. Fans of the "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" cult movies will also remember Carlin for his scene stealing performances opposite Keanu Reeves.

It was Carlin's love of topical humor that kept him in the public eye for decades. He authored several books and appeared on numerous television shows, including "Saturday Night Live," where he was the guest host on the show's premiere episode.

Carlin remained a mainstay on the comedy circuit right until the very end. He gave his final performance in Las Vegas just two weeks before he passed away.