Rosaleen Linehan (born Rosaleen Philomena McMenamin on 1 June 1937, Dublin) is an Irish stage, screen and television actress.
She has appeared in many comedy revues written by her husband Fergus. She has appeared onstage in, among other plays, Blithe Spirit, House of Bernarda Alba and Twelfth Night She was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role as Kate in Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa at the 1992 Tony Awards. She starred as Winnie in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days on stage and on screen as part of the Beckett on Film project, having already played the role in a 1996 production at The Gate Theatre opposite Barry McGovern.
In 1972, Linehan won a Jacob's Award for her RTÉ Radio comedy series Get an Earful of This. She was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Irish Theatre Awards in 2008.
In film, she has appeared as Nurse Callan in Ulysses, May Dedalus in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Aunt Fitzeustace in Fools of Fortune, Mrs Canning in The Butcher Boy, Peggy Owens in About Adam, Mrs Matson in The Hi-Lo Country and Millie O'Dowd in The Matchmaker. In television, she was a voice artist on the Irish language children's TV series Inis Cúil in 2005, appeared in Hugh Leonard's BBC sitcom Me Mammy and most recently played Deirdre O Kane's mother in Bitter Sweet.
Family
Linehan and Fergus live in Dublin and they have four children,and seven grandchildren, one of which is the budding professional dancer, who goes by the name of Rosie Stebbing. Rosie is currently training with the Nathalie Grand Academy of Dance, and is training in the areas of ballet, jazz, hiphop and contemporary. Her other granddaughter, Maebh Stebbing, is an equine enthusiast, and attends weekly lessons in the sport of horseriding. Her grandson Ciarán Linehan is a budding artist. Her youngest granddaughter Norah May is a born performer and entertainer. Her second youngest grandson, Matthew has the voice of an angel and could bring a tear to your eye with his singing voice. Her eldest grandchild, Daniel is a Guitar Hero®!! Her final grandchild, Fergus (the 3rd) is already making waves in the music industry as a piano playing prodigy. Rosaleen's father Daniel McMenamin was a Teachta Dála for Donegal from 1927 to 1961.[1]
References
- ^ One of her sons Hugh is the Features Editor of the Irish Times. Another son, Graham, is a comedy scriptwriter responsible (with others) for Father Ted and The IT Crowd. Rosaleen Linehan is a wonderful actress and is greatly admired by her children and grandchildren. "Rosaleen Linehan". The Arts Council (Ireland). http://www.artscouncil.ie/en/members.aspx?article=41751c9b-f0a7-4e48-8a8f-d82565d723ad. Retrieved 2008-08-20.