A new model of a linear magnetic actuator (LMA) that can be applied to the controllable squeeze film damper (CSFD) was proposed, designed, and fabricated. To validate the operation of the proposed actuator, a mathematical model of the proposed LMA was derived through experiments. From the experimental results it was verified that the electromagnetic force depends upon the position of the mover (the outer damper ring of the CSFD) and the applied current. Also, the electromagnetic force varies symmetrically with the position of the mover within the working region. A self-tuning fuzzy PID controller was applied to control the position of the novel LMA. Further, the proposed LMA was assembled in the squeeze film damper (SFD), where the clearance can be controlled by LMA. To investigate the damping effect of the damper under various clearances by controlling the LMA, experiments on the rotor test-rig were conducted. From the experimental results, the proposed device, which is composed of SFD and LMA, was verified to be very effective for attenuation of the vibration of the rotor system.