Kevin Smith on George Carlin

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

The first time I met George Carlin was May of 1997 at the Conan O'Brien show, back when they used to shoot it in New York City. I was there to promote CHASING AMY and when I found out Carlin was gonna be on the same show, I nearly **** myself. He'd always been a hero and a role model to me, so I brought a DOGMA script along in hopes of asking Curious George to play Cardinal Glick - the marketing maven behind the Buddy Christ.

But shortly before the show, Brenda - George's wife of 36 years - lost her battle with liver caner. Ever the professional, George kept his Conan booking, but you could tell he was heartbroken. I didn't bug him with DOGMA that night.

I'd meet the master again a month later at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles. He'd already read DOGMA and we were grabbing lunch to talk about whether or not he wanted to be in it. He said he was into it but had one request.

George asked if Cardinal Glick could have a bandage on his finger, which would hide George Carlin's wedding band. Because, he said, he wasn't ready to take it off just yet.

 

http://i.imgur.com/ILs4P.png

 

That put a smile on my face. For all the high profile people with awful marriages, here's a guy whose entire livelihood involved crass cynicism (genius crass cynicism, notwithstanding) and he had such a deep personal connection to his wife.

Edited October 4, 2012 by SageAgainstTheMachine

[HopsGuy]

That's a great story. Thanks for sharing.

[ajzepp]

Great story.

[BillsFanM.D.]

Awesome story. I saw him live a few times. Funny man.

[CosmicBills]

One of the best.

[Captain Hindsight]

Good story