We’ve lost yet another great talent of our generation. On Sunday, June 22, 2008, the popular and controversial stand-up comedian George Carlin passed away after suffering a sudden heart attack. He was 71 years old.

It’s doubtful that you hadn’t heard of George Carlin, whether you were a fan or not. His stand-up routines, featured in numerous HBO specials, were full of his views on politics, society, industry and of course, religion. But as controversial as they were (especially his religious views, where he constantly ripped on whether or not there really was a God or if we really needed Ten Commandments when only a couple would really do), they still made us laugh. Not only that, they made us think, proving that Carlin may very well have been the smartest man on the planet. At least in my opinion.

As many might know, he didn’t start out as we came to know him. When he began his career back in the “60s, he was as clean-cut and well-dressed as all the other comedians at the time, appearing on a number of variety shows, most notably the most famous of them all, “The Ed Sullivan Show”. He was also a regular on “The Tonight Show” during the late Johnny Carson”s thirty-year run. Like many comedians, he had a variety of on-stage personas, the most notable being Al Sleet, the “hippie-dippie weatherman”, proving even then he was giving us his views on society. Just in a more cleaned-up kind of way.

It wasn’t until he caught a performance of Lenny Bruce where the comedian was arrested for obscenity that Carlin changed into the man we knew him best as. Gone were the suits and clean-shaven face, and in their place was the beard and street clothes (which soon gave way to the all-black look that he became best known for). He also began include more social satire and foul language into his routines, which occasionally got him arrested but at the same time earned him more notoriety and bigger fanbase, becoming one of the greatest comedians of our time. It was after this transition that Carlin gave us his best routines, which include “A Place For Your Stuff”, “The Difference Between Football and Baseball”, his numerous “complaint” bits and the most famous of them all, “The Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television”, which was used as part of the famous Supreme Court case, “F.C.C. vs Pacifica Foundation”.

Carlin’s other achievements, both on and off the comedy stage, are numerous. He was the first-ever host of “Saturday Night Live” when it premiered on October 11, 1975. He had a number of HBO specials, going all the way back to 1977 with his final one, “It’s Bad for Ya”, premiering earlier this year. He’s appeared in numerous films, including the “Bill and Ted” movies, “The Prince of Tides”, and several Kevin Smith movies, most notably “Dogma”, where he played, in a very appropriate satirical sense, a marketing-oriented Catholic Cardinal. He had his own television series, “The George Carlin Show”, which ran for one season in 1993. He even appeared on kids’ shows, believe it or not, providing the narrative voice for “Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends” and playing Mr. Conductor on “Shining Time Station”. He also provided the voice for the character Fillmore in the Disney/Pixar movie “Cars”, proving he could clean up his act for younger audiences. He’s also the author of several books featuring his comedy material, the first of which being “Brain Droppings”.

Carlin’s work over the years has earned him several awards and recognition. He won the American Comedy Awards’ “Funniest Male Performer in a TV Special” award twice, in 1997 for the “Back in Town” special and again in 1998 for the “George Carlin: 40 Years of Comedy”. This latter was a retrospective special hosted by Jon Stewart as part of Carlin’s being honored at the 1997 Aspen Comedy Festival. In 2001, Carlin was given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 15th Annual American Comedy Awards. Comedy Central ranked Carlin at Number Two of their Top Ten list of the 10 Greatest Stand-up Comedians, behind Richard Pryor. And on June 18th of this year, just four days before his passing, Carlin was announced to be the honoree for the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, to be awarded in November, an honor held by other comedians such as Richard Pryor, Billy Crystal, Bob Newhart, Whoopi Goldberg and Steve Martin.

For a lot of people, Carlin’s death is quite the shock, particularly for his fans and more importantly, his loved ones. This was a talented man who always seemed to know what was going on, what his opinion on it was, and wasn’t afraid to say it, no matter who he pissed off. Even though I’m still a fan, I, myself, didn’t always agree with him, particularly a lot of his views on religion, but he still made me think and still made me laugh. Just as he did for millions of other people. His spirit and memory will live on in the many words and routines he gave us, still making us laugh, but the man himself is gone.

Rest In Peace, Mr. Carlin. God Bless You…