John Linehan
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John Joseph Linehan, MBE (b. 1952, Belfast, Northern Ireland) is better known as the character May McFettridge.
John Linehan was a car mechanic before he rose to fame in the guise of his plain-speaking, gap-toothed housewife character, May McFettridge. Eamonn Holmes, a relative, had asked Linehan to phone his then radio show, to liven the programme up. Linehan pretended to be a Belfast housewife, and the banter between the two attraced an unprecedented number of positive phone calls to the radio studio, many asking for a return of the women as a regular on the show.[1]
Linehan invented the name and the character by ad libbing — the first name being that of his mother-in-law and the surname being that of a Gaelic Athletic Association footballer who had a headline in the newspaper that happened to be lying nearby while Linehan was on the phone with Holmes.
The character became a regular on Downtown Radio. Since that time, Linehan has topped the bill as his character in the Christmas Pantomime in the Grand Opera House in Belfast for sixteen consecutive years.[2]
Linehan is also involved in charity work, appearing regularly in Northern Ireland's Children in Need broadcasts, and organising events such as golfing tournaments to help raise money for Children of the Crossfire. He was awarded the MBE in 2006 for charitable services in Northern Ireland.[3]
In the early 1980s, Linehan was diagnosed as having syringomyelia and had brain surgery in 1983. As a result, he was afflicted with meningitis and has had a lumbar puncture to help ease the pain. He has had muscle wastage and has lost some sensation in his left side.
Linehan starred as McFettridge playing Mrs Smee in a production of Peter Pan in the Grand Opera House in Christmas 2006, which has become one of the highest grossing pantomimes in the United Kingdom at over £1.25 million.[4] He is expected to reprise his role in Cinderella in the Opera House at the end of 2007.
Linehan is married to Brenda, and they have two daughters.
Linehan appeared in the film Divorcing Jack as the 'Announcer'.
