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Philip James Linton was born on November 23, 1963 in Oakland, California to Walter and Lillian Linton. He came from a large Catholic family with three brothers (John, Mike, Brian) and three sisters (Debbie, Kathy, Susan) . His family had moved to Reno, Nevada where he graduated from Our Lady of the Snows Catholic School. Then, he attended Bishop Manogue High School in Reno, when he moved back to California to graduate from Providence High School. While still a teenager, he became a member of the Screen Actors Guild and embarked on an acting career landing guest-starring parts on most of the popular shows of the 1980s, such as "The Waltons", "Facts of Life", "Who's the Boss", "21 Jump Street", etc. Even when he had just one scene, as he did on "Quantum Leap" in 1991, he showed an impressive range of guilt and determination when he played a teenager who leaves his pregnant ex-girlfriend for college. He had also acted on the big screen, such as the Jim Carrey film Once Bitten (1985). He would act with Carrey again, this time on the small screen in Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992). It was a prestigious project that earned Emmy nominations in major categories, such as Best Movie. It is one of the first movies on television that deals compassionately about coming out as gay. William McNamara played the gay protagonist, while Carrey, in a rare dramatic turn, played his older alcoholic brother. But it was Linton who made an impression as McNamara's accepting best friend. He also looked young, handsome, and healthy. So it was a shock to find him dead of AIDS on February 16, 1992 at the tender age of 28. A month later, Doing Time on Maple Drive (1992) aired and made its mark on television. Linton's grieving family brought his body from his home in North Hollywood, California to Sparks, Nevada where they had a Mass for him at Holy Cross Catholic Church. Then, he was buried at Our Mothers of Sorrows Cemetery. His school Bishop Manogue High School had a memorial for him. His church in North Hollywood, California called St. Charles Borromeo Church also held a funeral service for him. His family requested that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the AIDS Project Los Angeles. (APLA).
