Comedian George Carlin Dead at 71

June 23, 2008 – 1:36 am | in Entertainment |

In shocking news, George Carlin died this evening. Last week it was announced that on November 10th the veteran comic would be the 11th person inducted into the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ pantheon of humor and receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. (Past winners include Richard Pryor, Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin and Steve Martin.) Reuters has reported that Carlin died Sunday evening at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica of heart failure at age 71. The funnyman courageously fought censorship over the airwaves on radio and television, a legacy he leaves behind. He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a couple of TV shows and appeared in several movies.