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Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Linda Bove

BlogHer 08 – Sesame Street Suite Photo by Josh Hallett

Linda Bove was born on November 30, 1945, in Garfield, New Jersey. She was born deaf, as were both of her parents. She attended Gallaudet University, where she earned a B.S. in Library Science in 1968, but she also took part in several theatrical productions and attended the National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) Summer School Program during her senior year. Bove made her Broadway debut in 1970 as a member of the NTD troupe.

Her Sesame Street debut came about as Linda the Librarian in 1971 and is credited with bringing sign language and Deaf Community issues into thousands of living rooms across the country. 

1. Linda was the first deaf actor on Sesame Street

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden pose with some of the cast of Sesame Street Photo by Elaine Sanchez

Linda was the show’s first deaf actor, debuting on Sesame Street in 1971. Initially, a part-time cast member, Bove became a full-fledged regular cast member by the mid-late 1970s, and her character was in a romantic relationship with Bob.

On Sesame Street, she taught the alphabet and signs for colors, food, animals, and family members, while demonstrating what it meant to be deaf and how to deal with common, everyday experiences as a deaf person. Her character owned a very playful dog, Barkley. Linda’s role on Sesame Street lasted from 1971 to 2002, making her the longest-running deaf actor in television history.

2. She’s a member of the National Theatre of the deaf

Sign language alphabet Photo by Raziakhatun12

The National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) is a Connecticut-based theatre company that was founded in 1967 and is the country’s oldest theatre company with a continuous history of domestic and international touring as well as producing original works.

Its productions incorporate American Sign Language and spoken language to fulfill the theatre’s mission statement of connecting Deaf and hearing communities, increasing sign language exposure, and educating the public about Deaf art. The company is linked to a drama school, which was also founded in 1967, as well as the Little Theatre of the Deaf (LTD), which was founded in 1968 to produce shows for a younger audience.

3. Bove made her first major TV appearance on Happy Days

Deaf actors’ roles had increased significantly by the 1980s, and Bove continued to broaden her horizons. She had a recurring role as Melissa Hayley Weldon on Search for Tomorrow and was Fonzie’s love interest on an episode of Happy Days. Bove appeared in the 1980 episode as an electric company employee who meets Fonzie while attempting to correct a billing error for Howard.

4. Linda was the first deaf actress to star in a soap opera

Linda taught sign language to many of the Sesame Street and Search for Tomorrow cast and crew members while she was working on their shows.

Other television appearances include three episodes of Law & Order (2010), three episodes of Weeds (2012), three episodes of Farscape (2003, 2004), and three episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (February 2016). Marion Loesser appeared in the 1986 remake of Children of a Lesser God.

5. Linda is married to a fellow deaf actor, Ed Waterstreet

Bove married Ed Waterstreet in 1970. They first met while working with the National Theatre for the Deaf. Ed Waterstreet, who was born on May 5, 1943, in Algoma, Wisconsin, is an American deaf actor and the founder and artistic director of Deaf West Theatre and was the first resident theatre company in America to be directed by a deaf artistic director. Waterstreet has appeared in several films, including Love Is Never Silent (1985) and Sweet Nothing in My Ear (1988).

6. She founded the Little Theatre of the Deaf

Linda and a few colleagues founded the Little Theatre of the Deaf in the 1970s. The LTD performs original works, classic stories, fables, and poems, sculpting words and meanings in the air with Sign Language artistry and seamlessly blending them with the Spoken Word. The Little Theatre of the Deaf is a living, breathing example of collaboration, tolerance, and self-reliance.

7. She is the co-founder of the Deaf West Theatre Company

Linda Bove, along with her husband and fellow deaf actor Ed Waterstreet, founded Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles in 1991. The Deaf West Theatre Company was the first to be founded by deaf actors. Children of a Lesser God, Pippin, and Big River have all been performed in American Sign Language. (If you don’t know sign language, you can listen to a translator through headphones provided by the theatre.)

Deaf West Theatre recently collaborated with Apple TV+ to create a video for the film CODA’s feature song. They’ve worked with Capitol Records and Atlantic Records to create music videos for Calum Scott and Kelly Clarkson, as well as Disney to create performances for the Disney Princess YouTube channel. The mission of Deaf West Theatre is to “set the standard for bold and inclusive entertainment.” Linda Bove and Ed Waterstreet were instrumental in establishing their foundation.

8. She is a children’s book author

Arabic children books in Tunisia Photo by Dennis Jarvis

Bove was instrumental in inspiring children to learn American Sign Language. Linda was eager to facilitate learning after her television appearance piqued people’s interest in communicating with others through sign. In Sesame Street Sign Language ABC with Linda Bove and Sign Language Fun, she authored a series of Sesame Street books that taught children how to sign words and letters. Linda created a series of sign language pages for The Sesame Street Treasury in collaboration with the National Theatre of the Deaf.

9. Bove was awarded for her influential work on Sesame Street

Logo for Sesame Street Photo by Sesameworkshop.org

The actress received an AMITA (American-Italia) award in 1974 for her work on Sesame Street, but it was her influence on the adult writers she worked with that was most significant. Bove stated in a 1991 interview with Barbara Harrington about non-traditional casting that she worked with the show’s writers to create an authentic deaf character.

10. Linda received an honorary degree in 1991

Doctorado Honoris Causa de “U” Garcilazo Photo by Congreso de la República del Perú

In recognition of her “success in advancing the civil, human, and linguistic rights of the American Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community through the use of the media and social networking,” she received an Honorary Degree from her Alma Mater, Gallaudet University, as well as the Bernard Bragg Artistic Achievement Award and a Media Advocacy Award.

Bove has unquestionably come full circle, from the young college graduate who postponed becoming a librarian to test her theatrical wings to a groundbreaking television actress on a children’s show portraying a librarian, and now to an accomplished owner, producer, and thespian of the country’s most renowned deaf theater. As she continues to reinvent herself, she serves as an inspiration to all who want to be heard.