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Linus van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. The best friend of...

Linus van Pelt is a character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. The best friend of Charlie Brown, Linus is also the younger brother of Lucy van Pelt and older brother of Rerun van Pelt. He first appeared on September 19, 1952; however, he was not mentioned by name until three days later. He was first referenced two months earlier, on July 14. Linus spoke his first words in 1954, the same year he was shown with his security blanket. On the various specials, Christopher Shea first voiced Linus van Pelt in 1965. His younger brother, Stephen, voiced Linus from 1971 until 1975. Various actors (among them Jeremy Miller of Growing Pains fame) have played Linus since then. Though young, Linus is unusually smart, and he acts as the strip's philosopher and theologian, often quoting the Gospels. He also invented his own quasi-religious being, The Great Pumpkin who (like Santa Claus) mysteriously appears every year, bringing presents. The Great Pumpkin, however, appears on Halloween and only at the most sincere pumpkin patch, which Linus invariably believes is his own. Linus is the only one who believes in the Great Pumpkin. Though he occasionally convinces other characters the Great