GEORGE CARLIN DIES OF HEART FAILURE

George Carlin

Comic legend George Carlin, the wild performer whose routine "Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television" led to a key Supreme Court ruling on obscenity, has died of heart failure. Carlin, Carlin had a history of heart trouble and he went into St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. He was 71.

Meanwhile, George Carlin recently sat down with Steppin' Out magazine's, Chaunce Hayden to discuss his life and career. Here's a few quotes from that special interview.

Hayden: DEFINE OBSCENE?

George Carlin: You know William Casey, the former CIA chief under Reagan? For his funeral, he asked that the people not send flowers, but to use the money and give it to the Contras. That's obscene.

Hayden: How do you explain your years of self destructive behavior?

George Carlin: People describe taking drugs as self-destructive behavior. I think that's linguistic overkill. Anything then, can be described as self-destructive. Living is self-destructive. Taking drugs was part of the era I grew up in. I came from a neighborhood where we smoked pot way before white kids had pot. I was from an Irish neighborhood, so we drank early in life too. Those things were a segment of American life that I was a part of. I don't associate drugs with destructive behavior. I was never arrested for it. I was never was brought to a hospital with an overdose. I never used heavy drugs. I never drank hard liquor. So, I don't think what I did was self destructive. Did it get in my way? Yes, probably.

Hayden: Describe yourself.

George Carlin: I don't take myself really seriously. I think the world and life is all a big joke, but I do take my work and my art seriously. I care a lot about it.