Comedy legend Carlin dies

GEORGE CARLIN, the dean of counter-culture comedians, whose biting insights on life and language were immortalised in his Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV routine, has died of heart failure at the age of 71.

He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas.

Carlin’s jokes constantly pushed accepted boundaries of comedy, particularly with his routine on the Seven Words — all of which are taboo on TV and radio to this day.

When he uttered all seven at a show in 1972, he was arrested on charges of disturbing the peace.

A Wisconsin judge dismissed the case saying the language was indecent but citing free speech and the lack of any disturbance.

When the words were later 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 hosted the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live in 1975. He noted on his website that he was “loaded on cocaine all week long”.

He also produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, and appeared in several films.