Brian Linehan
| Brian Linehan | |
|---|---|
| Born |
September 3, 1944 Hamilton, Ontario |
| Died | June 4, 2004 (aged 59) Toronto, Ontario |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | television interviewer |
| Known for | City Lights |
Brian Richard Linehan (September 3, 1944 – June 4, 2004) was a Canadian television host from Hamilton, Ontario, best known for his celebrity interviews on the longrunning talk show City Lights.
Linehan was born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1944, one of seven children. His estranged Irish father, Les, worked at one of the local steel mills, Dofasco; and his Serbian mother, Sava (née Kotur), was later remarried to a post World War II Serbian immigrant, Jovan Rodic Sr. He too, was a steel worker.
At age 19, Linehan moved to Toronto, taking an entry-level job with Odeon Cinemas. The following year, he began working in public relations as an organizer of celebrity promotional visits to Toronto. By 1968, he was the general manager of Janus Films, a film distribution company.
He joined Citytv in 1973 as the host of City Lights, a program which would eventually become syndicated throughout Canada and the United States. Linehan was renowned for his composure, interview skills and meticulous research, often leading to in-depth questions that could last for minutes. His guests often responded to his questions with astonishment at his depth of knowledge; actress Shirley MacLaine once commented that the stars flocked to Toronto "so Brian could tell us about our lives". His interviewing style was parodied on SCTV by Martin Short as "Brock Linehan", a character whose similarly meticulous interview research almost always turned out to be wrong.
In 1988, City Lights was rebooted as MovieTelevision, an expanded magazine series on film which Linehan cohosted with Jeanne Beker. Linehan was not happy with the new format, however, as it left him with far less time to conduct in-depth interviews, and left the show in 1989 after its first season. He took some time off, and then spent the early 1990s as a freelance publicity interviewer.
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