George Carlin, an irreverent US comedian who was once arrested for offensive language after a performance of his cult routine “Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television”, has died in California of heart failure. He was 71.

Carlin was admitted to a Santa Monica hospital yesterday complaining of chest pain and died last evening, said his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had a history of heart trouble and drug dependency.

He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. The previous week it was announced that he was to be awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humour.

Carlin constantly pushed the envelope with his jokes, particularly with his most celebrated and controversial routine. When he uttered all seven words during a show in Milwaukee in 1972, he was arrested for disturbing the peace. When they were played on a New York radio station, they resulted in a Supreme Court ruling in 1978 upholding the government’s power to punish stations for broadcasting offensive language.

“So my name is a footnote in American legal history, which I’m perversely kind of proud of,” he said earlier this year.

© TimesOnline.co.uk

Full Shows @ Google Video:

• George Carlin - On Location (1977) 85 min
• George Carlin - George Carlin Again! (1978) 81 min
• George Carlin - Carlin At Carnegie (1982) 59 min
• George Carlin - Carlin on Campus (1984) 58 min
• George Carlin - Playin’ With Your Head (1986) 57 min
• George Carlin - What Am I Doing In New Jersey (1988) 58 min
• George Carlin - Jammin’ in New York (1990) 58 min
• George Carlin - Doin’ It Again (1990) 59 min
• George Carlin - Back in Town (1996) 62 min
• George Carlin - You Are All Diseased (1999) 63 min
• George Carlin - Complaints and Grievances (2001) 56 min
• George Carlin - Life is Worth Losing (2005) 74 min