A Tragic, Comic Genius
George Carlin went from clean-cut comic in the 1960s to the countercultural icon of the 1970s, and spent the rest of his years being nothing less than his true self. Or, so audiences thought. For all his brash language and risque confessionals, Carlin was still keeping ruinous secrets back home. 
1. His Father Was Violent
George Carlin was born in New York City on May 12, 1937. His beginning was no laughing matter. His mother, Mary, was terrified of his violent father Patrick, and had already seen how awful he was to George’s older brother Patrick Jr. So, gathering up her courage, she escaped their house via the fire escape one night with her sons in tow, never looking back.
For all that, Carlin’s formative years were still full of pain.
Little David Records, Wikimedia Commons
2. He Was A Wild Child
When he was eight, Carlin’s absent father passed, and his relationship with his mother deteriorated soon after. He spent much of his childhood running away from home, smoking grass, and getting expelled from school before dropping out entirely. He was obviously struggling with how to place himself in the world. This kind of thing only worsened as he grew up.
Unknown Author, Wikimedia Commons
3. The Air Force Reprimanded Him
Soon after leaving school, Carlin joined the Air Force. Only, it was also a disaster. During Carlin’s short stint there, he got three court martials: One for falling asleep on guard duty during a simulated mission, one for disobeying orders, and the third for disrespecting an NCO. He was eventually cut loose after three years.
Carlin’s young life was definitely wild, which only made his next move that much more surprising.
4. He Had A Clean-Cut Image
Growing up, Carlin had always idolized comic actor Danny Kaye, and in 1959 he teamed up with Jack Burns to form a relatively successful comedy team. But it wasn’t what you’d think. Far from Carlin’s later countercultural routines, Carlin and Burns were clean-cut, wholesome-looking comics who told respectable jokes.
Yet even then, Carlin’s personal life was anything but.
Bjorn Fjortoft, Wikimedia Commons
5. He Met The Love Of His Life
After one of his shows with Burns in Dayton, Ohio, Carlin happened to notice a beautiful woman hanging around the bar—waitress Brenda Hosbrook. When he asked her what he should do around town, she cheekily replied, “You can find a diner and have some breakfast…or you could find a girl with a stereo hi-fi and go home with her”.
After confirming that Brenda did, indeed, have stereo hi-fi, that’s just what Carlin did. It heated up from there.
6. He Had A White Picket Life
Less than a year after meeting Hosbrook, Carlin married her in June 1961 at her parents’ home, and their marital bliss was quickly followed by a daughter, Kelly, in 1963. Even better, during this time, Carlin’s career—now a solo one without Burns—was taking off, and he made regular appearances on variety shows, his hair still close-cropped and his face clean-shaven.
But appearances can be deceiving.
Michael S. Schwartz, Getty images
7. He Tried To Be A Good Father
Carlin delighted in being a father to little Kelly, and liked to romp with her, introduce her to new music, and even watch animal shows with her, where, according to Kelly, he “would do all the voices and it was way more entertaining than the actual show”. Still, even though Carlin loved to participate in Kelly’s upbringing, he had a lot of growing up to do himself.
Rabbani and Solimene Photography, Getty images
8. He Had Scandalous Habits
As Carlin’s career took off, his home life would have scandalized his fans. He often indulged in substances in his daughter Kelly’s presence, rolling papers in front of her and teaching her to do the same. Kelly also recalled making cakes with her father, where he would take out a baggie of buds for “Daddy’s Spice Cake”...and have his little girl mix them in for him.
Evidently, Carlin didn’t want to hide this side of himself from his family. In fact, he didn’t want to hide it from the world.
9. He Idolized A Fellow Comedian
In the early 1960s, while still working with Jack Burns, Carlin and his comedy partner decided to go see Lenny Bruce, the shock comic of the day. As Burns later related, although they were both “blown away” by Lenny’s willingness to be candid about what most people in the 1960s considered scandalous, from substance use to profanity, “It was an epiphany for George”.
George knew he wanted what Lenny had—but he also witnessed firsthand what it cost.
10. He Sassed An Officer
In December of 1962, Carlin was in the audience of the Chicago club where Bruce was taken in by officers for obscenity. His reaction was pitch-perfect. Officers began detaining audience members for questioning and asking for identification, but when they got to Carlin he cheekily told them he didn’t believe in government-issued ID. This…didn’t go down well.
11. Lenny Bruce Insulted Him
Irritated at Carlin, the officers detained him along with Lenny Bruce, taking him to the clinker in the very same vehicle as Bruce. Now, most accounts of Carlin’s countercultural beginnings end here, but there’s one more little-known detail: When Carlin told Bruce about his standoff with the officers, the comic looked at him and scoffed, “What are you, a schmuck?”
Even so, Carlin’s path to infamy was beginning.
12. He Topped Himself
By 1968, Carlin—still suited up and conventional—had reached even bigger heights of fame. He had released his first comedy album, frequently guest hosted on The Tonight Show, and appeared in the CBS comedy Away We Go. He was now making enough money for a comfortable existence in Beverly Hills, and continued to experiment with substances when his audience wasn’t looking.
The trouble was, his wife Brenda was getting into darker, deeper danger all the while.
13. His Wife Struggled
Brenda, often home alone with their daughter and with little to do during her days, began drinking more and more heavily. Carlin became so concerned about it that he even barred Brenda from getting a pilot’s license she desperately wanted for fear that she would do irreparable harm to herself and any passengers.
It sowed the seeds for a world of pain later on, but for now, Carlin took on almost no warnings for himself.
HBO Documentary, George Carlin's American Dream (2022)
14. He Had An Epiphany
In 1969, George Carlin had the most transformative experience of his life. After decades mostly just with his baggie of buds, he now dropped a tab of harder stuff and claimed it changed his life. As his daughter related, Carlin called the experience “a values changer…I was able to see I was in the wrong place”.
America didn’t know it, but they were about to get an entirely new George Carlin.
ABC Television, Wikimedia Commons
15. He Changed Everything About Himself
Carlin now took the biggest risk of his career. Spurred on by his memory of Lenny Bruce’s bravery and his new spiritual experience, Carlin grew his hair and beard out, displayed ear piercings, and switched out his old suits for ratty shirts and blue jeans. Then he changed up his comedy routines entirely, reveling in discussions of politics, religions, substances, and anything taboo.
The consequences were immediate, and devastating.
The Bellringer, Wikimedia Commons
16. His Career Tanked
To say Carlin’s regular audience was betrayed by his new look and style is an understatement: Crowds fled from the comedian they felt they couldn’t understand. According to one report, his revenue, once a quarter million a year, dropped a staggering 90% after his makeover.
Many in the comedy world thought he had made the biggest mistake of his life. But Carlin didn’t give up.
17. He Didn’t Stop
Carlin wasn’t just determined to win the public back over, he also believed in himself and the changes he was making. So, faced with crumbling ticket sales, he hired a crack management team to better sell his new image, and simply started out all over again in smaller clubs with younger crowds who would be more receptive to his true self.
It paid off—but it also taxed him.
18. He Clawed His Way Back
It took two long years, but Carlin managed to win over mainstream audiences again when his comedy record FM & AM came out. The album cleverly split its material, showing his pre-1970s kind of comedy on the “AM” side and his new comedy on the “FM” side. It was the perfect gateway into new Carlin, and he was a hit once more.
Only, Carlin was never comfortable with comfort. He now pushed the boundaries even further.
19. He Had A Notorious Routine
Around the time the FM & AM came out, Carlin became utterly infamous for seven reasons. He began perfecting his “seven dirty words” routine, immortalized most famously on his record Class Clown, where he brazenly lists off the seven swear words you can’t say as a public figure. Or, as he put it, “the ones that'll infect your soul, curve your spine and keep the country from winning the war”.
His seven words seemed to put the hackles up on every self-respecting moralist in America, and these moralists soon got their revenge.
20. Officers Jumped Him
On July 21, 1972, Carlin performed his “seven dirty words” routine at Milwaukee’s Summerfest. When he walked off the stage that day, officers immediately arrested him for the set, charging him with violating obscenity laws. For Carlin, as it had been for Lenny Bruce, the uproar was just an indication that he was doing something right…but the authorities never let him enjoy it.
21. The Authorities Hated Him
Although the Milwaukee case against Carlin was eventually dismissed for being, if indecent, not strictly obscene, Carlin would go on to face multiple charges and complaints about the routine for the rest of his life, tallying up to a total of seven arrests. Each time, he never backed down and continued to perform the routine, even adding to and tweaking the words as it went on.
Then again, George Carlin never did know how to stop…until tragedy forced him to.
22. He Had A Near-Death Experience
In 1976, at the height of his career, Carlin suddenly disappeared from the stage, and stopped doing stand-up for five long years. The reason why was harrowing. He admitted only much later that he had suffered a heart attack during this period, with the medical scare keeping him from live audiences even as he now began a long and successful series of taped specials with HBO.
Considering what was going on with Carlin at the time, it’s surprising his heart didn’t quit entirely.
Ted Streshinsky Photographic Archive, Getty images
23. His Lifestyle Made Friends Relapse
Carlin’s substance habits went from mild or moderate to utterly extreme during the 1970s, with one of his label mates, Kenny Rankin, admitting that there was so much gear readily available on Carlin’s private jet or elsewhere on tour that he suffered a relapse. At the time, Carlin was particularly into baggies of powder rather than buds, a penchant that couldn’t have helped his heart.
But then there was his marriage.
NBC, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962-92)
24. His Marriage Was In Shambles
Carlin’s career had made a fantastic surge during the 1970s, but his relationship with Brenda Hosbrook took a nosedive. Her drinking worsened significantly, and combined with Carlin’s own habits, their love turned into a near-lethal concoction. Tragically, they couldn’t even seem to keep it together for their now-tween daughter Kelly.
In fact, Carlin’s characteristic openness about his substance use turned into a nightmare for his little girl.
HBO Documentary, George Carlin's American Dream (2022)
25. He Put His Daughter Through It
By this time, Kelly had been around her parents long enough to understand their every mood, hangover, and withdrawal symptom, and she watched carefully to make sure their days would never go from shaky to horrible. As she later put it, “Walking on eggshells doesn't even begin to explain it”. At times, she even had to take an active role in sobering her parents up.
Frederick M. Brown, Getty images
26. They Fought In Public
In her memoir, Kelly Carlin described one particularly doomed family holiday to Hawaii, where Brenda and George began fighting because George wouldn’t “share” the stash he had with Brenda, who liked to partake alongside her drinking. The argument devolved into divorce threats and petty complaints…and then hit a terrifying climax.
HBO Documentary, George Carlin's American Dream (2022)
27. His Daughter Begged Him For Peace
Strung out and fed up with each other, Brenda and George—in front of Kelly—picked up kitchen knives and turned them on each other. Their daughter’s response was heartbreaking. The 11-year-old put herself between them, partially defused the situation, and made her parents sign a “peace treaty” begging them to stop scoring, using, and/or fighting for the rest of the trip. Sadly, it didn’t last a day.
George and Benda’s worst moments, however, happened closer to home.
28. His Mother Almost Destroyed His Family
Around this time, Carlin’s mother—with whom he’d always had an unstable relationship—came for a prolonged stay at the family home. It only introduced even more family dysfunction: Reportedly, the matriarch would spend most of her time insulting Carlin while secretly pouring Brenda drink upon drink.
It led to a rock bottom.
Richard E. Aaron, Getty images
29. He Got An Ultimatum
With her drinking issues ratcheting up for years and now pulled into painful focus with the enabling of Carlin’s mother, Brenda Hosbrook was soon hospitalized for her alcoholism. It was a moment of reckoning, and when she got out she told Carlin she wouldn’t move back to their house until his mother moved out.
It turned into a turning point for Carlin too.
30. He Saved His Marriage
George Carlin was nothing if not honest, and after Brenda’s ultimatum, the first thing he did was inform his mother of the deal, book her a flight back to New York, and drop her off at the airport. It likely saved Brenda’s life, but it also saved their marriage. After this, Carlin and his wife partly confronted their addictions and greatly improved their relationship.
Yet in some ways, the damage was done.
31. He Became A Movie Star
In the 1980s, Carlin branched out into acting with several memorable roles, including his 1987 turn as a hippie drifter in the comedy Outrageous Fortune, then as time traveler Rufus in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure in 1989. In 1991, he even took over from Ringo Starr playing Mr Conductor on the classic children’s TV show Shining Time Station, a far cry from his countercultural image.
His body, however, kept sending out warning signals.
Orion, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
32. He Had Another Attack
Carlin still used substances during this time, if likely less than before, and it all caught up with him. In 1982, he suffered yet another heart attack, and would go through another in 1991. In defiance of this, Carlin still kept working, and performed almost yearly in HBO specials like Carlin at Carnegie.
But his comedy was sending out warnings, too.
Dogs & Cats | George Carlin | Carlin at Carnegie (1982), Official George Carlin
33. He Offended People
At the height of his fame, Carlin was known for takes on American politics and culture, turning out quips like “That’s why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it” and, “In America, anyone can become president. That’s the problem”. His comedy was irreverent, but somehow hopeful, even as his observations offended some.
But for some fans, Carlin’s next evolution was too much, even for them.
HBO, George Carlin... It's Bad for Ya! (2008)
34. His Comedy Turned Dark
Just before his third heart attack, Carlin’s comedy went through another transformation: His anti-establishment flair now took on a nihilistic edge. He began wearing all black, growing his hair even longer and sweeping it into a ponytail, and joking about violence from bombings to beheadings.
He would hone this dark, bitter style even more as the years went on—and soon his life was imitating his art.
35. He Lost His Wife
During this phase of Carlin’s career, his family got devastating news. His wife Brenda Hosbrook had liver cancer. She died on May 11, 1997—just one day before Carlin’s birthday. After all their work on their marriage, it wasn’t drink that took Brenda but a cruel twist of fate.
Reeling from the loss, Carlin was about to have an even more confusing experience.
36. He Fell In Love Again
Just six months after his wife’s passing, Carlin met comedy writer Sally Wade, and was astounded to discover it was “love at first sight”. But, newly widowed and still processing, Carlin ran away from Wade, telling her needed to be alone for up to a year before he pursued anything romantic. Then he surprised her.
37. He Remarried
After eight months of not hearing from Carlin, Wade assumed he’d moved on and that what they’d had was mostly illusory. Then one day, Carlin called her up and asked her out on that very belated date. It turned into much more. Soon after, they married in a private ceremony, just over a year after Brenda’s passing.
But if Wade thought she was getting a more stable Carlin, she was wrong.
38. He Had A Ruinous Secret
By the end of the 1990s, Carlin had mostly stopped acting in favor of pursuing comedy-related endeavors. But he didn’t do this out of a love for comedy. His real reasons were ruinous. Carlin admitted in 2001 that, thanks in part to his substance issues, he owed mountains of money to the IRS and needed to claw his way back, with comedy evidently paying more than Hollywood.
Sadly, those substance issues weren’t behind him.
39. He Went To Vegas
In the new millennium, Carlin began headlining frequently in Las Vegas, including a run at the MGM Grand Las Vegas in 2004. Still pushing the boundaries with his newer, more nihilistic comedy, one day his show went off the rails. The audience that night didn’t take kindly to his “bombs and beheadings” routine…and Carlin didn’t take kindly to them.
40. He Heckled His Fans
Sensing the negative atmosphere in the room, Carlin couldn’t manage to just grit his teeth and make it through the set. Instead, he began complaining that he couldn’t wait to get out of Vegas and go back to “where the real people are”. He then heckled his own audience, saying, "People who go to Las Vegas, you've got to question their [dirty word] intellect to start with. Traveling hundreds and thousands of miles to essentially give your money to a large corporation is kind of [dirty word] moronic”.
It didn’t end there, either.
HBO Documentary, George Carlin's American Dream (2022)
41. He Shot Back
As it happens, George Carlin fans aren’t ones to sit around and take things in silence either. After this diatribe, an audience member shouted at him, “Stop degrading us!” To which Carlin replied bitterly, "Thank you very much, whatever that was. I hope it was positive. If not, [dirty word] me”.
Carlin walked off the stage that night to more consequences than he’d felt in years.
HBO, George Carlin... It's Bad for Ya! (2008)
42. He Admitted He Had A Problem
After the disastrous set, the MGM Grand unceremoniously fired Carlin. Then came the real shock. In the wake of the firing, his representative soon announced that Carlin had gone into a rehab facility, of his own free will, to seek treatment for pain medication addiction and alcohol misuse. The set wasn’t just a bad night; it was a symptom of Carlin’s continuing personal issues.
In the years following, a slew of confessions followed.
43. He Told All
Carlin had many come-to-Jesus moments in his life, but that night at the MGM Grand seemed to make one of the biggest impacts. In a 2005 show following the infamous set, Carlin told the audience he had now been sober for just shy of a year, and in 2008 he gave a bare-all interview admitting his addictions to alcohol and pain medication, while also indicating that other substances had helped him through life.
Sadly, time was running out on that life.
44. His Heart Began To Fail
Starting from the early 2000s, Carlin’s heart issues popped back up again with a vengeance, leading to an ablation procedure in 2003, another episode of heart failure in 2005, and two angioplasties somewhere around this time. Only in his 60s, Carlin must have worried for his future—but he still had a sense of humor about it.
45. He Looked Like A “Science Project”
Carlin continued working throughout these health scares, going on stage and performing for people in gig after gig. One day, his publicist saw the horrible cost to Carlin. While hanging out backstage, Carlin lifted his shirt up for the publicist, jokingly, to show him the results of all these heart surgeries. The publicist said his chest “looked like a science project”.
46. He Kept On Going
In the end, Carlin really didn’t know when to give up, and he kept right on going until he practically couldn’t. In the summer of 2008, Carlin was 71 years old and still embattled with health issues, but nonetheless put on a performance at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in early June. It would be his last show.
ZooFari (talk), Wikimedia Commons
47. His End Was Sudden
On June 22, 2008, Carlin’s heart finally got him, and he perished from a fatal heart attack in Santa Monica, California. Despite his fame and semi-public health issues, many were still shocked and saddened at the loss of such a vital force in comedy, and at such a relatively young age.
Apparently, though, Carlin had been ready, and his last wishes were perfect.
HBO Documentary, George Carlin's American Dream (2022)
48. He Left Specific Instructions
As part of his will, Carlin had his body cremated, and stipulated that his ashes should be scattered at the fronts of a collection of New York City nightclubs where he had first started in comedy. It was a touching tribute to his life, but there was one thing missing from his demands.
49. He Refused To Have A Funeral
True to his irreverent, stripped-down character, Carlin insisted that there be no funeral for his remains. Instead, he only asked that his wife Sally Wade and his daughter Kelly host a small party at his home, where friends and family could share stories of the life he’d had.
50. He Was A Disappointed Idealist
George Carlin was far from perfect, and he’d be the first to tell you so. His irreverent, sometimes edgy humor didn’t always land, but most of it found his audience in the end. Perhaps more importantly, although he was cynical, he was always reaching for more. After all, as he once said, “Scratch any cynic and you’ll find a disappointed idealist”.
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