Brian Linehan

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.

Background Linehan was born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1944, one of seven children. The following year, he began working in public relations as an organizer of celebrity promotional visits to Toronto.

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, He took some time off, and then spent the early 1990s as a freelance publicity interviewer.

From 1996 to 1998, he hosted a second show entitled Linehan, which was produced for CHCH-TV in Hamilton.

Linehan was also a longtime entertainment reporter on CFRB radio, and a frequent host of awards ceremonies such as the Genie Awards and the Geminis. The foundation's noted donations have included $1 million toward the creation of an actors' training program at the Canadian Film Centre, and $1 million to the Toronto International Film Festival toward the construction of the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

The public reading room at TIFF's Film Reference Library is named in honour of Linehan. The library also holds many of his personal archives and research collections.

George Anthony, a longtime friend of Linehan's, published the biography Starring Brian Linehan: A Life Behind the Scenes in 2008.