Editing George Carlin (section)

== Early life ==
George Denis Patrick Carlin<ref name="Dream2022">''[[George Carlin's American Dream]]'' (2022)</ref><ref name="james7">{{cite book |last=Sullivan |first=James |year=2010 |title=Seven Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin |url=https://archive.org/details/sevendirtywordsl00sull |url-access=registration |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780306818295 |access-date=June 10, 2014}}</ref> was born at New York Hospital (now [[Weill Cornell Medical Center]]) on Manhattan Island on May 12, 1937, the son of Mary (née Bearey; 1896–1984) and Patrick John Carlin (1888–1945).<ref>{{cite AV media |last=Carlin |first=George |title=[[Complaints and Grievances]] |medium=TV |publisher=[[HBO]] |date=November 17, 2001}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Carlin|Hendra|2009|p=[https://archive.org/details/lastwords0000carl/page/6 6]}} "Lying there in New York Hospital, my first definitive act on this planet was to vomit."</ref> He had an older brother, Patrick Jr. (1931–2022), who had a major influence on his comedy and was sometimes directly involved.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Patrick Carlin, Comedy Raconteur and Influence on Brother George Carlin, Dies at 90 |url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/patrick-carlin-dead-90-george-carlin-brother-1235234338/ |last1=Murphy |first1=J |date=April 17, 2022 |access-date=May 22, 2022 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |last2=Littleton |first2=Cynthia}}</ref> Carlin called himself "fully Irish"; his mother was born in New York to Irish immigrants and his father was an Irish immigrant from [[Cloghan, County Donegal]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OnWnwwxNPA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/-OnWnwwxNPA |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live |title=George Carlin - pride |publisher=YouTube |date=February 2, 2010 |access-date=May 10, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In his autobiography ''[[Last Words (book)|Last Words]]'', he wrote about a fantasy of Ireland he often had when his first wife was alive: "The southeastern parts so that it would be a little warmer, and the two of us there, close enough to [[Dublin]] that you could go buy things you needed."<ref>George Carlin, ''Last Words'' (New York: Free Press, 2010), p. 288</ref> Carlin's maternal grandfather was an [[NYPD]] police officer who wrote out the works of [[William Shakespeare]] by hand for fun.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCGGWeD_EJk |title=Jon Stewart Interviews George Carlin |publisher=YouTube |date=August 16, 2016 |access-date=October 19, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |title=George Carlin - Unmasked with George Carlin |date=March 6, 2013 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-clvDxl8qI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/s-clvDxl8qI |archive-date=December 11, 2021 |url-status=live |language=en |access-date=November 12, 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Carlin's parents separated when he was two months old due to the alcoholism of his father, who Carlin said was "never around".<ref name="Dream2022" /> His mother raised him and his brother on her own.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jon Stewart Interviews George Carlin |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCGGWeD_EJk&feature=youtu.be&t=146 |website=George Carlin Official YouTube Channel |date=August 16, 2016 |access-date=August 24, 2020}}</ref> When Carlin was eight years old, his father died.<ref name=Dixit2008/>

Carlin said that he picked up an appreciation for effective use of the English language from his mother,<ref>{{cite book |title=Conversations on the Edge of the Apocalypse |url=https://archive.org/details/conversationsone00brow |url-access=limited |last=Brown |first=David Jay |author-link=David Jay Brown |page=[https://archive.org/details/conversationsone00brow/page/n208 196] |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2005 |isbn=9781403965325}}</ref> though they had a difficult relationship and he often ran away from home.<ref name="playboy">{{Cite magazine |title=Playboy Interview: George Carlin |magazine=[[Playboy]] |last=Merrill |first=Sam |date=January 1982}}</ref> He grew up on West 121st Street in Manhattan's [[Morningside Heights]] neighborhood, which he and his friends called "White Harlem" because it "sounded a lot tougher than its real name".<ref name=Dixit2008>{{cite news |url = http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200806/george-carlins-last-interview |archive-url = https://archive.today/20080626081637/http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/brainstorm/200806/george-carlins-last-interview |archive-date = June 26, 2008 |work = [[Psychology Today]] |title = George Carlin's last interview |first = Jay |last = Dixit |date =June 10, 2008 | access-date =November 16, 2024 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He attended Corpus Christi School, a Catholic parish school of the [[Corpus Christi Church (New York City)|Corpus Christi Church]] in Morningside Heights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.georgecarlin.com/update_10-29-08/timeline/early_years.html |title=George Carlin: Early Years |publisher=George Carlin website (georgecarlin.com) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708072213/http://www.georgecarlin.com/update_10-29-08/timeline/early_years.html |archive-date=July 8, 2009 |access-date=June 10, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last=Flegenheimer | first= Matt | url = http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/pondering-a-carlin-street-and-keeping-the-7-words-in-check/ | title = Carlin Street' Resisted by His Old Church. Was It Something He Said? | work = [[The New York Times]] | date =October 25, 2011 |access-date=June 10, 2014}}</ref> One of Carlin's closest childhood friends was [[Randy Jurgensen]], who became one of the most decorated homicide detectives in NYPD history.<ref>{{Cite web|title=About|url=http://www.randyjurgensen.com/about.html|access-date=September 5, 2021|website=Randy Jurgensen|language=en|archive-date=September 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210905214907/http://www.randyjurgensen.com/about.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> His mother had a television set, a new technology few people owned at the time, and Carlin became an avid fan of the pioneering late-night talk show ''[[Broadway Open House]]''.<ref>{{cite AV media | last = Carlin | first = George | date = December 17, 2007 | title = George Carlin Interview Part 1 of 7 - TelevisionAcademy.com/Interviews | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnVkUcGJyjU | access-date = January 18, 2020 | time = 20:23 | publisher = Academy of Television Arts & Sciences}}</ref> He went to [[the Bronx]] for high school, but was expelled from [[Cardinal Hayes High School]] after three semesters at age 15. He briefly attended [[Bishop Dubois High School]] in Harlem and Salesian High School in [[Goshen, New York|Goshen]].<ref name=Gonzalez>{{cite news |first=David |last=Gonzalez |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/nyregion/24hayes.html |title=George Carlin Didn't Shun School That Ejected Him |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 24, 2008 |access-date=June 10, 2014}}</ref> He spent many summers at Camp Notre Dame in [[Spofford, New Hampshire]], where he regularly won the camp's drama award; upon his death, some of his ashes were scattered at [[Spofford Lake]] per his request.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhtourguide.com/nh_facts.htm |title=Interesting, Strange & Weird New Hampshire Facts |publisher=NHTourGuide.com |access-date=June 12, 2014}}</ref>

Carlin idolized [[Danny Kaye]] and wanted to be just like him.  His career plan was to work his way up through various performing occupations to eventually become a comedic actor like Kaye, and although he eventually realized he did not possess the skills to be a top-notch actor, he constantly referred in interviews to his sad realization of not being able to attain his boyhood dream.  Near the end of his life, he took more acting roles as he never really gave up on his lifelong dream.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2009-02-10 |title=Tributes ~ George Carlin on Danny Kaye {{!}} Make 'Em Laugh {{!}} PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/makeemlaugh/video/all-interviews/tributes-george-carlin-on-danny-kaye/124/#:~:text=He%20did%20things%20I%20wanted,to%20be%20like%20Danny%20Kaye. |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Make 'Em Laugh}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2007-10-04 |title=George Carlin still furious 50 years on |url=https://variety.com/2007/scene/markets-festivals/george-carlin-still-furious-50-years-on-1117973286/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=George Carlin with Tony Hendra |url=https://www.writersblocpresents.com/archives/carlin/carlin.htm |access-date=2025-04-11 |website=www.writersblocpresents.com}}</ref>

Carlin joined the [[U.S. Air Force]] and was trained as a radar technician. He was stationed at [[Barksdale Air Force Base]] in [[Bossier City, Louisiana]], and began working as a DJ at radio station [[KIOU|KJOE]] in nearby [[Shreveport]] in July 1956.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Official George Carlin Biography- georgecarlin.com |url=https://georgecarlin.com/biography/ |access-date=January 10, 2025 |website=georgecarlin.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/george-carlin/|title=George Carlin|first=Patricia|last=McConnico|date=December 1, 1999|website=Texas Monthly}}</ref> Called an "unproductive airman" by his superiors, he received a [[general discharge]] on July 29, 1957. During his time in the Air Force, he was [[court-martial]]ed three times and received many nonjudicial punishments and reprimands.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://variety.com/2008/film/news/comedian-george-carlin-dies-at-71-1117987925/ |title=Comedian George Carlin dies at 71 |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=June 22, 2008 |access-date=June 10, 2014}}</ref>