Actor, comedian and comic genius George Carlin died Sunday of heart failure.  Carlin had a history of heart problems.  He was 71.

Carlin was a comedic icon.  His "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television" is one of the best-known comedy routines in history.  Thanks to indecency laws, some of which are still on the books, Carlin was arrested numerous times after performing the routine.  The cases were dismissed, but one obscenity charge made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

To a generation, he was Rufus, Bill and Ted's time-traveling deus ex machina.  To a slightly younger generation, he was Mister Conductor, taking over on Shining Time Station after the departure of Ringo Starr.  For today's kids, he's been the voice of the narrator on Thomas and Friends as well as Fillmore the hippie van in "Cars".  ("Hook 'em while they're young," he said as Cardinal Glick in "Dogma".)

He was recently named the recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, an award he would have received at the Kennedy Center this November.

In an interview, Carlin once said, "Standup is the centerpiece of my life, my business, my art, my survival and my way of being.  This is my art, to interpret the world."

He was preceded in death by his wife Brenda.  He is survived by his daughter Kelly and his partner Sally Wade.

(Sources: New York Times, Bloomberg)