George Carlin know best for his 7 Words you cant say on Television routine died of heart failure at age 71 on Sunday. Carlins first wife, Brenda, died in 1997. He is survived by wife Sally Wade; daughter Kelly Carlin McCall; son-in-law Bob McCall; brother Patrick Carlin; and sister-in-law Marlene Carlin.

Carlin was born on May 12, 1937 and grew up in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, raised by a single mother. He dropped out of school in the 9th grade, and joined the Air Force in 1954. He received three court-martials and numerous disciplinary punishments, according to his official Web site.

While in the Air Force he started working as an off-base disc jockey at a radio station in Shreveport, La., and after receiving a general discharge in 1957, took an announcing job at WEZE in Boston.

"Fired after three months for driving mobile news van to New York to buy pot," his Web site says.

From there he went on to a job on the night shift as a deejay at a radio station in Fort Worth, Texas. Carlin also worked variety of temporary jobs, including carnival organist and marketing director for a peanut brittle.

He started his career on the traditional nightclub circuit in a coat and tie, pairing with Jack Burns to spoof TV game shows, news and movies.

In 1960, he left with $300 and Burns, a Texas radio buddy, for Hollywood to pursue a nightclub career as comedy team Burns & Carlin. His first break came just months later when the duo appeared on "Tonight Show."

Carlin said he hoped to emulate his childhood hero, Danny Kaye, the kindly, rubber-faced comedian who ruled over the decade Carlin grew up in the 1950s with a clever but gentle humor reflective of the times.

It didnt work for him, and the pair broke up by 1962.

Carlin was a television staple through the decades, serving as host of the "Saturday Night Live" debut in 1975 noting on his Web site that "he was loaded on cocaine all week long". He appeared around 130 times on "The Tonight Show." He produced 23 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, three books, a few TV shows and appeared in several movies.

Carlin won four Grammy Awards for best spoken comedy album and was nominated for five Emmys. On Tuesday, it was announced that Carlin was being awarded the 11th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, which will be presented Nov. 10 in Washington and broadcast on PBS.

To some he is known as a counterculture hero, whose jokes targeted things such as misplaced shame, linguistic quirks and religious hypocrisy. He touched on sensitive subjects like airport secruity, and policies and procedures.

George Carlin had a history of heart trouble, was reported to have gone into St. Johns Health Center in Santa Monica on Sunday afternoon complaining of chest pain and died later that evening, according to his publicist, Jeff Abraham. He had performed as recently as last weekend at the Orleans Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.

He is a Comedic Genuis that will be missed by many.